Book one: A Jedi's tale
by James R Ward
Summary: Two teenage boy's mysteriously land in the Jedi temple on Coruscant. Only problem is, all they remmember is their names. Follow them through the events of KoTOR one and two, along with the Ebon Hawk's crew and a few new characters. Please RnR!
1. Prologue

The halls of the great Jedi temple were quiet, as usual, masters went about seeking the peace that the light side of the force would provide, but it just so happened that something unexpected, and rather loud caused every head there to snap towards the ceiling. There were two dark sillouettes falling. Very rapidly.

"Ahhh!" They both yelled at the exact same time, causing even more people to join in watching as the voices got louder, until they were almost deafening. After about a minute and a half of free falling, the two people stopped, three feet off the air, panting heavily as they both said the same words, "Oh shit..." And as those words left their mouths, they continued their short free fall until they each landed in a heap on the floor, again, both uttering the word "Fuck." as they landed. One of the higher ranking masters in the vicinity slowly approached them, reached out two hands and touched their foreheads to see if they were concious. As he reached into their minds with the force, he fell back from just the sheer will power and raw force potential they possessed. As one of the knights came to assist the ageing master, he quickly stood back up and took in their appearances as he ordered for some healers to take them away. Both were male. The first male had thick, shoulder length hair on the sides of his head, but the back was sticking up and he had a fringe that curled around his eyes and finished at his chin. What else was also noticable, was the two small rings attached to his lips, added to that was a patch of dark facial hair that ran all along his jaw line. _Was he a slave?_ the master thought as he took in the males clothing. On his upper body was a light blue, tight fitting shirt with a black waist coat over the top of it. His bottom half consisted of a pair of tight, deep black pants, topped off with a pair of multi coloured shoes and laces. The other man wore much simpler attire. He wore a plain, white sleeveless vest top, a pair of loose fitting blue pants and a pair of white shoes. As the healers took them away, the master headed off to the council chambers. It was a good half an hour for the group of ageing men and women, of all species were able to arrive in the great room. The master stood before them all, hands clasped behind his back and head held high, allowing his pink Lekku to wrap around his neck.

"Master Zhar, why have you requested an audience with us? Is something troubling you, old friend?" Grandmaster Vandar asked kindly, remmembering the time when he taught Zhar fondly.

"Yes and no masters. Earlier today, two young males fell from the top of the room of a thousand fountains. After touching their foreheads and searching through the force where they had come from and if they were still alive, I felt... Something."

"Explain." Asked Vrook, as he placed his pale chin in his gloved hands, thinking carefully about the current events unfolding before them.

"Masters, both have extremly large force potential. I wouldn't say that it's as good as that boy we found a few years ago, Revan, I think his name was. But definatly higher than average." Zhar continued, looking into the eyes of each council member at a time.

"What are you asking of us?" Asked an intrigued Dorak, high historian of the Jedi.

"I'm asking to train both in the ways of the Jedi. Though, in case they are hostile, I feel it would be better to perhaps erase any memory of their past, and give them a new, happier one. Just in case they are scarred by their old one." Zhar proposed as he bowed onto one knee.

"The council shall disscuss your request. Rare it is, for a Jedi to train multiple padawans." Vandar concluded with a thoughtful expression on his ageing features.

"Thank-you masters." With a final bow, Zhar walked out of the room and towards the infirmary, where the two strangers were hooked up to machines, but otherwise awake. When he caught their expressions, he noticed one of glea and perhaps, excitement?

"Greetings. My name is master Zhar. What are your names?" Zhar asked polietly, giving them both a small bow each.

"Erm, I'm James. This is Dan. Where the hell are we?" The one with long black hair asked as he looked around the room. As James said this, the healer that had been tending to them silently walked up to Zhar and whispered in his ear. "Master, both have suffered memory loss. Nothing we've done with the force seems to have had any effect." The human female looked sad for a moment, and then gave a small bow and left.

"You are in the Jedi temple on Corucant. May I ask, do you know how you came to end up here?" When both shook their heads innocently, he gave a reassuring nod, before a young apprentice ran up to him and whispered in his ear, "Yes." Taking this as the council's affirmative to proceed with the request he had placed before the high council. With a quick glance at the apprentice accompanied by a warm smile and a gracious nod, he turned back to the teenagers as the apprentice ran off. "I have an offer for the two of you." He began, taking confident strides towards them, "My offer is this, I give the chance to the two of you, to become Jedi. You will be able to control the force and weild the weapon of the Jedi, the lightsaber. With that though, comes a lifetime of training and constant vigilance towards the evils spread across the galaxy."

When both young men turned to look at each other, shrugged and then turned back to him, they both nodded simultaniously.

* * *

Many years later, both teenagers had become grown men and were taking the knighting ritual together. After they had both announced that the only things they could remmember were their first names, the council created final names for the two of them. James was called, James Merek, and Dan was known as, Dan Newberry. Over the years that they had been training, both had progressed extremly well, but unfortunatly, the Mandolorian wars had begun. Revan, who had been their training partner for most of the time had lead the retaliation from the Jedi, along with Dacen Kenobi, who was also a good friend of theirs. With most of their friends gone, well, all except one, the two new knights were lonely in the great, now mostly empty halls. Hundreds, if not thousands of Jedi had gone off to join Revan and Alek who were now sending back reports of finally luring the Mandolorian's into a trap above Malachor V where they would end this war once and for all. The two knights left the halls and walked into one of the rooms, their robes flowing freely behind them. James wore a set of black Jedi robes and cloak, whilst Dan wore a set of standard robes. As both entered the room, they spotted a spar going on. Two combatants were _really_ going at it. With a quizzacle look towards one another, James and Dan both stepped up to the edge of the mat, surrounded by knights and padawans, each cheering for one of the two to win. As a blue and yellow saber clashed, there were louder whoops of encouragement from the assorted fans watching their last best friend and a new Cathar padawan clash, time and time again. When both had their blades above their heads, Dan called out earning many looks of disdain and annoyance from the other Jedi around the matt. "Stop." That one word caused both Jedi on the matt to freeze instantly and lose their balance, causing them both to drop to the floor in a heap. Both young woman looked up with annoyance on their faces. This time James spoke up, knowing what Dan was about to say. "I vote that we kick it up a notch. I vote that me and Bastila, could take Dan and, sorry what's your name?"

"Juhani." Replied the thick accented Cathar.

"Okay, so me and Bastila, take Juhani and Dan. Who wants to see that?" James called out into the room, only to recieve cheers and somebody to begin taking bets on who would win. As both Dan and James cockily walked to the side of the matt where their partner was, they dropped their cloaks into heaps behind them, using the force to call their weapons to their hands. Dan activated his brilliant silver blade with a small flourish. Dan held his lightsaber in the classic Ataru opening stance, one arm out with the lightsaber next to his face but parrallel to his outstretched arm. James was differant however. James activated the two hilts in each hand. From his left hand sprung a deep red blade, but from his right sprung a magnificent purple. When James was supposed to take his stance, he didn't. Dan was a Jedi sentinal, and James was a guardian, despite the fact that they both had a control of the force equal to Revan. James began to pace back and forth infront of Dan, causing his opponant to make him his first priority, somewhere in the crowd, a master must've arrived because someone called out, "Please put your lightsabers on stun." Without breaking stride, James used the force to select the setting on his lightsabers, as did Dan, Bastila and Juhani. The two padawans on the matt with them both held their lightsabers in the most basic of forms, even though both Dan and James knew that Bastila could use better forms than that. With a small whisper, James called over to Bastila.

"Use Makashi." With that simple instruction, Bastila instantly raised her blade behind her head and pointed the tip of the blade to the floor.

When all was silent in the room, the four combattants leapt at each other, using the force to fuel their movements, earning cheers from all around the room. James and Dan clashed in mid air, James kicked Dan in the torso and prepared to land through a backflip when he was pushed to the other end of the matt due to a powerful force push. Bastila and Juhani were at it yet again, both tired due to their previous engagement. Dan did a frontflip and landed right before James and was ready to deliver a tap to the leg which would signal him to be out of the fight when a lightsaber came up and blocked it. Despite laying on his back and not being able to move anywhere easily, James was holding his own fairly well. With a quick shove, he pushed Dan away long enough to scramble to his feet. The next hour or so was locked in intense combat, with the two of them sweating bucket loads. It had taken Bastila and Juhani half an hour before Bastila made a mistake and was tapped out, but James quickly tapped out a charging Juhani. As Dan swung his saber in a horizontal arc over James' stomach, James quickly leant backwards, arching his back enough to avoid the blow. With a small backflip, so as to keep from falling over, he made sure to catch Dan lightly in the chin. As Dan charged him, he also threw a few force attacks his way to probe his force barrier that he had formed fairly quickly into the fight. The next few minutes went by quickly, when by a small opening in his defence, Dan had his blade locked with James' when James used Dan's own body weight to spin his lightsaber out of his hands. As the blade flew through the air, James quickly tapped Dan four times, each one signing Dan's and Juhani's defeat. With a small smirk and a quick twirl of his blades, James sheathed his sabers and gave Dan a polite bow, in which he returned before going to get a towel and a refreshing bowl of cold water.

As Bastila made her way over to James, he could feel the happiness radiating off her in waves. What was even more surprising however, was the brief hug he got off her. A rare thing indeed. James, Dan and Revan were the only people she spent any time with really. Sure Alek used to hang out with them, but she never really liked him, always complaining about how he stared at her with a hunger in his eyes. He had to admit, Dan and himself never were really all that fond of Alek themselves. "You won!" She exclaimed as she finished the hug with a congratulatory high five and proud smirk.

"You expected anything less? I was toying with him." James replied loudly enough for Dan to hear him.

"Fuck you." Dan called over as he used the force to heal his bruised chin. From that one comment, this caused Bastila to giggle and James to allow a small smile to grace his features, as he rubbed the facial hairstyle that he never changed since his arrival, seven years ago. James was twenty-three and Dan was a year younger. "Do you want to go into the city? Have a bit of fun?" James asked Bastila, who looked nervous at first, but then gave a firm nod of the head. James merely grinned and retrived his robe through the force and then slid it on. Tonight was going to be fun.

* * *

"You know," James heard Bastila slur due to the amount of Juma juice that she'd drank. Dan and James had both warned her that she'd had too many but she wouldn't hear any of it. "You know, I always though Revan was very... Handsome." She finished with a slur and a deep blush, to which Dan and James looked at each other with wide eyes, raised eyebrows and huge, shit eating grins on their faces. They were still grinning at each other when a dull thumb was heard across the table.

Across from them, a young eighteen year old girl had just passed out. "Oops." Dan and James muttered before downing their hits of Juma and helped carry Bastila back to her quarters. "Shit. She's gonna have a hell of a hangover tomorrow." Dan muttered as they carefully lay Bastila on her bunk. They were just turning around to leave when Bastila grabbed both of their hands and pulled, causing them to come crashing down onto her bunk, unable to escape her vice grip on their wrists without waking her up. With a grin, James looked over at Dan and wiggled his eyebrows, to which Dan gave him the finger while mouthing, "Fuck you." Dan was the core of James' jokes when it came to Bastila as Dan was fond of her, but as a brother is to a sister. James was differant. James treated her like he would a best friend, but was incredibly protective of her, especially since the war broke out. The code was against the kind of attachments that the three had formed over the years, and both of them knew that Revan was going to be jealous as hell when he returned, due to the fact that the two of them had fallen in love, without even knowing it. It was sweet really. Despite the fact that James picked on Dan for his treating of Bastila, he got a small amount of revange due to the fact that James had feelings for a Jedi himself. James happened to spend a lot of time around a certain padawan about to take her knight trails named Sasha. Even her master had warned the two of them that love lead to the darkside, upon which they both scoffed and pretended like they didn't like each other and never would. They both carried on into the night, trading insults with each other until they fell into a deserving sleep.

* * *

Grey walls. Grey floor. Grey ceiling. "God this is boring, and oddly repetative." James muttered loud enough for the strike team to hear as they made their way to the bridge of the _Doomsayer_.

"Concentrate will you?" Bastila chided, earning a handfull of chuckles and giggles to emenate from the group behind them as they rounded a corner. "Fucking hell. Not again." Dan whined as another squad of Sith soldiers ran to meet them with vibroswords. The Jedi gathered were outnumbered two to one. James had long ago left his robe back on the floor somewhere, as had all the other Jedi, so nothing stopped him from leaping into the middle of them, punched the floor and used the force to create waves in the grey metal, knocking each Sith onto either their faces or backs. Quickly dispatching them, the Jedi moved on through the ship, with one purpose in mind; to take Revan back to the council for questioning, and to stand trial for his actions. It was the middle of the Jedi civil war. The current Jedi in the strike team was all that was left of the original dozen Jedi and two dozen Republic Commando's. The Jedi in question were as follows; Bastila, Dan, James, Raddick, Sasha, Dorlus and Limnick.

The final door to the bridge was now in sight, and all the remaining Jedi could feel Revan through the metal barrier. "I don't want to die." Raddick whined, fearful of his death. "Maybe we should find another way to get him." He continued as he backed away from the door. James walked right up to him saying, "There a reason you don't want to go in there?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow. Raddick merely nodded numbly and then made a beeline through the corridor that they had just come from, shortly before he became one with the force. The remaining five Jedi bowed their heads in respect and sadness before proceededing into the bridge. What amazed them was that there were no personell piloting the ship, instead it was being controlled by Dark Jedi. _It would make sense though, because the Dark Jedi would be able to use the force to make more accurate shots_. Dan reasoned within his own head.

As the door closed, each Dark Jedi swivelled their heads towards the threat, all abandoning their tasks to defend themselves. James took the iniative and leapt towards a group of them, cutting down two whilst in mid air, only to land infront of five more. "Shit." James muttered, never before going up against so many and coming out unscathed, his twenty-five year old torso already littered with scars, along his biceps also. Dan and Limnick satyed back as they were sentinals and provided force powers to aid the guardians.

Dorlus was the bolder, overconfident one, and cut down all the sith between him and the Dark lord who was watching the battle through a transparisteel window, ignoring his surroundind, but all of them but Dorlus seemed to realise that. Dorlus stopped right behind Revan, lime lightsaber raised behind his head. "Surrender now. _Sith_." He hissed that last word with venom and barely concealed hate.

_Uh oh_, Dan thought, yet again as he killed his last Dark Jedi, but before anyone could do anything, Revan began choking him, using his greater command of the force to smash all barriers in his way. Just as Bastila and Sasha finished off their respective attackers, each with a slash across the chest, they all ran up to see if they could save him, but by the time they all got there, he had already passed on into the force.

Each Jedi now flourished their weapons, illuminating the barely lit bridge with a multitude of differant colours, creating a specrum of light. Bastila held her lightsaber before her and pointed a finger at her former friend whilst shaking her head in dissapointment. "You cannot win Revan!" She declared, confidence echoing in her voice, despite the trembling they were all getting. Except for James. James was zoned out of everything except the force, trusting it to tell him when to strike and when there was danger. Just as Revan retrieved one of his blades and took up the first stance of his personalised Juyo, James sensed danger, but not from Revan, but from outside. He had just enough time to yell and get a reaction from three people before everything exploaded around them. "Incoming!" Was all Dan heard before passing out on the floor.

James stood up, weakened considerably from what had just struck the bridge. He looked about for anyone else and noticed Bastila starting to come around. "What just happened?" He asked as he helped her up. "Turbolasers. I think." Bastila replied shakily. Bastila instantly went over to check on the rest of the Jedi team before moving onto the Dark lord to check his vitals. "Sasha and Dan are alright. Both unconcious. Should be entertaining getting off this ship as well..." James trailed off, noticing Bastila's pained expression. "What's wrong?" He asked as he checked over Sasha, once more due to a large amount of blood flowing from her mouth and temple. "His body is failing. I don't want him to die like this." Bastila muttered as tears fell freely from her eyes and onto the infamous mask of Revan. James' next statement shocked her, "Then don't." He replied with a firm gaze. "What did you just say? This is the _Dark lord of the Sith_ we're talking about here! His death could very well end the war." She finished with bitterness laced throughout her voice. "But you love him. So, redeem him. Malak will just take control and find an apprentice himself. My credit's on that it was Malek who fired on the bridge, and is continuing to fire on the ship. From what I can tell, the shields will hold longe enough for us to get to the transport. With a look of determination, Bastila began healing Revan's wounds through the force, unconciously creating a force bond. Throughout the entire conversation, Bastila had never turned around, and is she had, then she would have seen James do exactly the same with Sasha. After they were both done, James lifted Sasha and Dan around his neck as they began running off the bridge.

The ship was abuzz with activity. Some soldiers were getting pulled out of escape pods and shot by higher ranking officers, whilst others were merely sitting down and removing their armour and resigning themselves to their fates. Nobody even noticed a pair of Jedi run through the ship with a Dark lord and two unconcious Jedi with them, or if they did, then they just didn't care enough to stop them. As they arrived at a lift, they noticed that it wasn't working, thanks to James being captain obvious and saying it outloud, after which Bastila said, "Thank-you captain obvious." To which he just shrugged as best as he could with two Jedi on his back.

When they couldn't think of another way to their shuttle, they deicided to just rip the doors open with the force, after which they quickly jumped down. They began to slow down however when the ship began a free fall, due to the _Leviathan_ hitting the stabalisers. Both Jedi stood up and made a beeline for their target hole in the floor. Alas, they were not fast enough and the ship evened out again, probably due to some failsafe or another. Neither of them cared at that moment in time. They began their slide again, until James spotted something he could find purchase on coming up ahead. "Bastila, grab onto me!" He called down, as she instantly grabbed him. There it was, a strong looking wire, still inside the wall, but sticking out enough to hold onto. They came to a very quick stop, causing James to cry out in pain as his shoulder popped in protest. They hung there with no idea's at all as Dan came to, spotted what was wrong and quickly grabbed hold of James. "We, uh, got a situation." James announced to Dan. Popping your shoulder back in, whilst hanging from it is a very difficult thing.

"I can see that." Dan muttered, and heard some grumbling from below about obviousness. James merely rolled his eyes and looked up.

_Oh shit_.

"Erm, guy's? Don't look up." James announced eyeing the approaching elevator, and against all logic, they still looked up. If James could have face palmed, then he would have. With a quick flick of the wrist, Dan opened the door beneath James that Bastila could easily jump into, and James as well as long as he swung. Taking the hint, the two gladly jumped inside, just as the elevator passed the door they had fallen through. With a stroke of luck, Bastila reconised it as the level that they needed to be on. Without wasteing another second, the trio of freinds in the land of the consious, took off in a force enhanced sprint.

Luckily their ship was still in the hanger once they arrived. Once they were all on board, they fired up the engines and took off, just as the ship blew up. They flew as fast as they could to the Republic _Hammerhead_ class ship that they needed to return to called the _Endar Spire_. After such an ordeal, it was surprising that James and Bastila hadn't passed out. Instead they all just grinned at each other for their efforts in a daring escape.

* * *

**AN: **So, after reading an amazing story called _**Displacement in the old republic**_, I finally found the balls to write the first chapter to an idea that I've had floating around in my head for a while. Also, to answer a few question's I've had from talking to a few people about this story, yes it will be focused on James and Dan and their time with the new Revan. Yes Revan is a man. Yes there will be a romance between Bastila and him. Yes there will be romances for James and Dan, but not in the same story. James' will probably be in this one, whereas Dan's will probably be in KoTOR II. If anyone of you guy's that are reading this have read any of my other stories, you will tell that I've improved on my writing, and now hopefully my romance writing skills... LOL! .

Okay, so James' appearance is based off of my own, and the name is my own as well, as with in any other OC story such as my upcoming Fast and Furious one and my Assassins Creed and Halo ones. What can I say? I like self inserts. His behaviour and language also match my own as well. Also, Dan is based off of my friend on Xbox Live, who I promised not to put his gamertag in any of the stories I write! :)

Okay, I don't see the point in putting these, and I'll only put it this once... I don't own anything to do with Star Wars... Whatsoever. To be honest, I don't really want to because I'm happy as I am. However, I _do_ own James, Dan, Sasha and any other OC's that I create for this series. I also have to mention that updates will, unfortunatlly be irregular and unannounced. Sorry :/

Please RnR! :')


	2. Chapter 1

"Bastila, how are you coping?" Dan asked as he approached Bastila in her quarters. She'd confined herself there for the majority of the time on the trip to Taris, and the three other strike team members had constantly checked up on her. The main reason for the trip however, was to try and get Revan's new identity to remmember how the Sith created such a vast fleet and army in such a short space of time. If he ever began to have flashes of said memories, then they would just play it off as a sign of force sensitivity. Nobody else, other than the council and the Jedi undercover as Revan's bunk-mate were aware of the truth. And then, only the council and the assembled Jedi knew of the two force bonds created on that fateful mission. Bastila had an air of confidence around her, and as she stood up, she regarded the assembled Jedi with a calculating look.

"I am in no mood for your protectiveness. I'm a fully fledged Jedi. I can take care of myself. Don't you have something to be getting on with, rather than disturb your commanding officer?" Bastila replied bitterly with a voice filled with arrogance. She'd been like this ever since meeting the 'new' Revan a few days ago. That was the last straw. James had a fairly long temper, but he just wouldn't be spoken to like that from his 'best' friend.

"That's it!" James roared, causing lightning to spark off of his robes as raw force energy built up around him, the others all backed away in fear, including Dan. "This is the last straw! You'd better change your damned tone with us and everybody else, or I swear to god, I'll slam you in stasis and send you off to the Sith to deal with you!" Once James had finished his little outburst, he stormed out of the room, causing all of the furniture to drop a good few meters to the ground.

As Dan left to see to James, Bastila broke down crying. Luckily, Sasha was there to comfort her as she fell to her knees. As Bastila cried more and more into the robes on her shoulder, Sasha gently rubbed Bastila's back and spoke softly to her, "It's okay. He didn't mean all those things that he said. We're just worried about you. That's all." She whispered quietly. She was about to go and place Bastila in bed when the warning claxtons all around the ship started to go off, and an automated voice repeated the words, "All hands, prepare to repel boarding parties." Sasha merely glanced at where Bastila was, quickly scanned the area and noticed her medatating in the middle of the room. "Look, we gotta go Bas, good luck and may the force be with you." Sasha called over her shoulder as she ran to join Dan and James in the upcoming battle.

* * *

As they made their way to the bridge, they could already see the damage that the interior of the ship was suffering due to constant bombardment from outside. As they ran along the final corridor to the bridge, they watched in horror as a republic soldier ran ahead of them and was blow further down the corridor by an exploading terminal. They raced over to his limp body to search for any signs of life, but all they found was a scorched corpse, blackened from all the burns that he recieved in the explosion. After they closed his eyes and made their way to the bridge, they noticed Republic soldiers setting up defences on the two doors leading there. A man in an orange flight jacket was ordering the troops around as he helped them.

"Ahh, glad to see you made it." The man chuckled as he set down a small turret that he placed by the door. "I'm Carth by the way. Carth Onasi." The man held out a hand for the three Jedi to shake, and they did just that. With a nod from them, he continued. "The sith are on their way here. We _have_ to protect Bastila. Hopefully, this will stop them long enough to get her to an escape pod." He finished as he picked up and ammo pouch and slung it across his back as he primed the blaster that he was holding in his right hand.

"Is there anything that we can do?" Sasha asked as she stepped forward, joined by the other two, also asking.

"You could go slow them down, though personally, I'd rather one of you guys stayed here to help." Carth replied with a small shrug.

"Right, Dan, you stay here with Carth, me and Sasha will go slow them down. If we get split up on the way down to the planet, activate your beacons in your belts." James ordered as he slid his robe off his shoulders, planning to come back for it later on with their escape. With a glance to his left, he also noticed the brunette next to him do the same, revealing the same robes that she had worn on the mission against Revan. Seeing this brought back unwanted memories of his friend and the feeling of loss he felt with each Jedi's death. With a small shake of his body, James unclipped both of his lightsabers from his belt and held them in a reverse grip, but not activated. Sasha removed her hilt, in which a blue crystal resided.

As the two of them ran towards the shooting, they noticed that it was coming from the direction of Revan and Trask's room. As they took a neat corner, Sasha collided with solid armour, and after scrambling to her feet, not a hot sensation right by her neck. The sensation reminded her of so many times throughout this war where she had been in a similar situation due to her carelessness. It was a lightsaber. She sat there, stock still, regretting all that she had done to the people she had cared about throughout her life, and the hurt that came along with the lecture from the council after they said that love was forbidden. James had recieved that very lecture with her, and the force began to swirl between the two of them when he became upset. It was almost as if it was trying to heal the hurt inside. As she closed her eyes, she heard the sound of a lightsaber piercing flesh. But no pain came. No quick release. No oneness with the force. No peace. As she opened her eyes, expecting to be outside of her own body, she saw a the sith stood there up against the wall, held there by two lightsabers. James was holding them. When he turned to check if she was alright, she saw pain, regret and... Anger? She reached out with her mind into the bond that they shared and found that it wasn't anger at her, but at the Sith. As she came out of her discovery, she saw the Sith try to utter something whilst breathing a raggady breath. What came next was James sliding his right arm to the left, and his left to the right, slicing the slith into three cauterised slices. The stench of burnt flesh flew freely through the hallway. As James turned around and offered Sasha a hand, she gratefully took it. Feeling a little mischevious, James hoisted her up with enough power to cause her to land mere centimeters from each others faces. They stood there for what felt like an eternity, staring into each others eyes and slowly drawing closer until a pair of loud coughs behind them caused them to pull apart and activate their lightsabers. What they saw next caused both of them to blush heavily. Sasha even more so seeing who it was. It was Trask, a blonde Jedi wearing a Republic soldiers uniform as part of his cover. She had trained with Trask multiple times in the past, and it was rumored that he had developed feelings for her. But who was next to her caught her off guard. She almost didn't reconise him without the dark robes that he wore before going to war. It was Revan, and even James stood there in shock. Trask merely kept to his cover and bowed.

"Master Jedi, I'm sorry to intrude." He said as Revan quickly followed his lead. James and Sasha merely sent amused looks towards the two as they sheathed their blades, before looking at each other and unconciously edging away. James regained his composure quickly and placed comforting hands on both mens shoulders as he knelt down to their level.

"It's quite alright Trask. I see that you brought R-Kaidon Inviere with you." James managed, catching his mistake. He shot a worried glance at Sasha and then at 'Kaidon' who seemed none the wiser. Good.

"Thank-you _Master_." Trask said as he rose, shooting an annoyed glance James' way. He quickly continued though as James shot a look of apology back. "We were headed to the bridge. We need to defend Bastila. Will you help us Master Jedi?" He actually looked like he was a real soldier.

_Unbelievable. _James and Sasha said at the same time through their mental bond. With a grin, the two of them nodded their heads and took off back towards the bridge.

* * *

"We're too late." James muttered as he took in the scene around him, eyeing all of the dead republic troops, dwarfed by the amount of dead Sith. _Least they took a couple of the bastards with them._ Thought James, not knowing that Sasha had heard it. When Sasha cast her eyes in his directions though, he knew that she did. James quickly bolstered his mental barriers to such a degree that even Revan would have been proud, seeing as though it was he who had taught it to them. After Zhar had left for his position on Dantooine before the war, Revan had become a knight and had unofficially taken over Zhar's duties. None of them complained though, it was always fun learning with friends. Hense the reason that James had the same fighting style as Revan. As he leant down to pick up his carefully dropped robe, he slid it on and continued towards the escape pods. That's where Dan and Carth would have taken Bastila. James reached out with the force to search for Dan and Bastila's force signatures and sensed them both in the same escape pod. Both repressing their aura's to avoid getting shot at.

"Bastila's gone. We should head down to the planet as well." James spoke to the group as he put the hood of his robe over his head enough to conceal his dark brown eyes. As they moved through the door, James ran his tongue along the inside of his bottom lip, feeling the two tiny scars that were there. Then, a spike in the force brought his head snapping towards the door opposite him. Trask pulled out a short sword and opened the door and stepped through into the waiting arms of a Dark Jedi flourashing a double bladed red lightsaber. Before James or Sasha could react, her own robe over her body, the door had closed. James merely heard Trask's voice in his head just after he became one with the force.

_Take care of her James. Now, run James. Run!_

And he did just that, making sure that the other two behind him were following, before running down the corridor and through two rooms until he was infront of a whole sqaud of highly trained Sith if their armour gave anything away.

"So guys, you know the quickest way out of here?" James asked, right before blasters were pulled and three lightsabers were ignited, sending all of them back, but in trained directions.

After the first flurry of bolts, all but one lay on the floor dead. James walked past him, slashing his legs causing him to drop to his knees in pain before stabbing him in the back in one swift motion with the same blade.

As Kaidon was walking past, he stopped and stared at the body, a flash of metal catching his eye. As he bent down to pick it up, he stared in amazemnt at the craftmanship of the vibroblade he was wielding. It was like the blade wasn't there. To most people that would be considered a poor balance, but to Kaidon, it felt almost like he'd been working with these kinds of blades all his life. He did a few swings around his body before nodding in satisfaction before joining his two Jedi companions in the next room that were in a conversation with the superior officer that had introduced him to the ship.

"C'mon! Let's get outta here!" Carth yelled as he felt explosions rocking the ship. He bolted inside very quickly followed by the two Jedi and that raw recruit that had somehow survived through this whole thing. Just as the escape pod cleared the _Endar Spire_, the entire ship went up in one whole explosion, taking a few Sith fighters with it. After the flames were put out by the vaccum of space, they prepared themselves for the landing on the planet.

* * *

**AN:** Okay, so, as you've probably figured out, we're going to Taris next! :D Yaaaay, the most _boring_ part of the whole fucking story! :D Don't worry, I'll find a way to make it entertaining! :) OOO just a quick pointer, events WILL change due to the fact that James, Dan and Sasha are there. I originally planned on Sasha being that Jedi aboard the Endar Spire that's against that Sith. I was planning on making it so that the explosion knocked her out and she needed a proper medical facility, and that James would nearly fall to the dark side due to anger. Buuuuuuut I decided to put in that little moment in there instead. Sorry lol. -shrugs-

Oooo and I DEMAND, that everyone goes and reads _**Displacement in the old republic**_, just because it's such an epic story so far, despite there only being two chapters at the moment. Annnnd the writer is extremly talented, and should consider writing as a profession! That's right, I know your reading this! :)

RnR! :)


	3. Chapter 2

**Crash. **

**Bang. **

**Pain. **

Fuck.

That's generally the train of thought that James was thinking as the pod landed in the upper city. He'd been here a few times from missions before the war, to during. Luckily, he'd made a few contacts. Both he and Dan had. As he hastily unclipped his crash webbing, he checked through the force for any injuries to either himself of his companions. Luckily, only Sasha and Kaidon were injured. As he checked the two of them for anything serious, he just found that both had been knocked unconcious and would wake up soon enough. Releasing a breath that he didn't realise he'd been holding, he motioned for Carth to carry Kaidon, whilst he moved Sasha. As they stepped out into the sunlight, he spotted a nearby apartment complex just to the south and motioned for Carth to keep up. Weaving his way through the crowd that had gathered with Carth close behind, he spotted the door mere meters away.

Soon, they'd be out of the eyes of the public. As James waved his hand infront of the door, he found it tantilisingly painful to watch the old door open up.

Above him, James could hear the whines of the Sith fighters fly overhead to search for any survivors. Recently, lady luck seemed to have them in her good books as the door was completly engulfed in shadow. After the door finally opened, the two concious beings ran inside, carrying the two peacefully sleeping over their shoulders. Without turning around, James dead locked the door using the force, making sure that nobody would enter for a while.

As they walked the circular corridor, they glanced in sorrow at how nothing was up for rent. When they were about to walk out, James caught sight of a small sign that he'd missed when he passed it, and as look would have it, a vendor had set up shop right next to it. After removing the little sign that said 'FOR SALE' in at least six differant languages, they quickly made their way inside. James and Carth had to admit, it was more than they had expected. Sure there was a roof, ceiling and rooms, but luckily, the previous owner hadn't thought about removing furniture.

James quickly did a scan of the apartment with Sasha still on his shoulder and announced that there was two bedrooms. Carth quickly nodded and went and placed his burden down on one bed, whilst James did the same with the other. As he turned to leave, the door locked right in front of him. With an annoyed glare, James slowly turned around and looked at the innocent looking Sasha. She had the classic, 'Who me?' look on her face. James couldn't help it any longer. He did the one thing he could do at the moment. He laughed.

After the laughing fits from the pair had finished, he looked at Sasha with an annoyed glare again. "Are you telling me, that I just carried a completly concious woman down nearly a quarter mile of walkway, for no reason?" James changed his expression from annoyed to neutral throughout that question. The only facial movement that could be reconised was the lone right eyebrow arching up. Sasha whithered under his gaze and merely replied with a shrug saying, "I was tired." Ohh, now _that_ got him annoyed. "You were _tired_? How do you think me and Carth feel having to sprint down a street filled with a crowd that wouldn't move, search for an apartment. And did I forget that we just got blown, _out of fucking orbit_!" James was almost twitching now.

He was fatigued, tired, cold and hungry. He wanted nothing more than to just collapse in the front room and pass out. But he knew he couldn't do that. He had to find Dan and Bastila before all that, and then had to find a way off planet. Sasha merely sent him an annoyed glare as she mimicked James, "Then why don't _you_ go to sleep and stop worrying about everyone else, for a change?" She finished her retort with a warm smile and an invitation to pass out on her bed while she did some work. As tantalising as the offer of sleep sounded, James declined. "Why?" She innocently asked, knowing that if she flourished her long, dark eyelashes and widened her eyes a little, then he'd give in. The puppy dog eyes never failed. Ever. "Because two of my best friends are out there being hunted by the Sith. Or worse." James muttered as he sat on the edge of the bed and held his head in his hands.

Despite the years of being a Jedi, James never once changed his haircut. Or facial hair. He ran a shaky hand, due to fatigue, through his black hair. His pale features looked even more pale and shokingly gaunt. Then again, he hadn't eaten since before boarding the _Endar Spire_. She worried for him. She genuinally worried for his health and well being since that day on the _Doomsayer_.

Since then, James had been in a slight depression. Feeling so many Jedi die was one thing, but feeling one of your best friends as a twisted, evil version of what they once were was another. Sasha had never really tried to get James to sleep when he was like this before. Sometimes he'd be depressed that he couldn't remmember his past, and others he'd just be down that he couldn't talk to two of his friends that had all but vanished. Revan and Leia. It saddened her to see him like this, and her sadness echoed between their bond. But she quickly blocked it before she thought James could pick up on it.

Too late.

James quickly spun around at such a speed should have been impossible for someone as fatigued as he. But he managed it, somehow. Halfway through his turn, he'd begun to raise his arms and once they found something to find purchase on, he beggan wiggling his fingers. This action caused an endless laughter to erupt from the woman before him as he tickled her sides. This whole escapade continued on for another good hour until both parties slowly fell asleep next to each other.

Sasha awoke once that night due to a nightmare. In the nightmare she saw James. But it wasn't the James she knew. The James that she saw was a dark and evil man, who killed whoever was in his way. As she'd stared at him in that dream, she'd looked into his eyes and only one thing had been there;

Revenge.

After she awoke in a sweat, noticing she was in the coolest robes that she had, she looked over to find James fast asleep next to her. She smiled a little at his relaxed features and how the bags under his eyes were now all but a memory. She slid a little closer, and pressed her petite frame against his muscular side. She smiled even more when she felt James arms unconciously wrap themselves around her. The two fell asleep in each others arms as the night drifted on. Little did James know, she had only changed the colour of the lights and he could've walked away anytime.

* * *

That next morning, Sasha awoke to the sound of breathing behind her. As she carefully looked down, she saw an arm wrapped tightly around her waist. She smiled to herself as she rested her head back down on the pillow before attempting to fall asleep again. She must've fallen asleep for a while because the activity outside the apartments window was heavier. As she looked to her left, she noticed the clock showing that it was almost eleven. With a speed that she didn't know she could have in a morning, she bolted upright and leapt out of bed and into the refresher. As she got in, she allowed the cold water to rinse away all of the grime of the battle yesterday and ease the sore muscles. As she walked out of the room, she noticed James' figure missing. With a sad look on her face, she got dressed and before she walked out of the door, changed that expression to a neutral one. Walking down a single corridor, Sasha spotted James in a clean set of his personalised Jedi robes working at the apartments work bench. As he fiddled with a few things, she approached him from behind. Whatever he was working on he finished by the time she got there and he stowed it away quickly before turning around with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes?" He questioned, mocking an arrogant Jedi. Sasha quickly smiled and began to ask her questions of the day, "Are we going out today? I noticed Carth and Kaidon aren't here. Did he wake up?" Before she could ask anymore, James held up his hand whilst attaching his sabers to his belt and slipping on his robe. "I'm going out, your staying here. Yes he woke up, and yes I sent them out. Keep the caffa on, I'll be back before you know it." He finished with a wink at her before he pulled his hood over his eyes and left the appartment.

James was instantly hit by the sight of two Duro's being attacked by two war droids and a Sith trooper that was trying to act bigger than he really was. With a smile, he walked up behind the Sith and tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to spin around angrily, "Yeah, what do yo- I'm sorry master. I didn't to be so rude." He apologised as he kneeled before him, with his head bowed. "What's going on here?" James asked in the huskiest voice he could manage. Somehow, the Sith actucally bought it. "I have reason to believe that these two are harboring two Jedi and two republic soldiers." James' smile instantly dissapeared and he quickly reached for his lightsaber. "Well, your right." The Sith quickly looked up, shock on his face, "I am?" James activated his lightsabers and looked straight at him. "Of course, one of them is standing right infront of you." All the soldier could do is gasp before his head flew from his shoulders, quickly followed by his two droids. James nodded at the Duros who was saying his thanks before quickly sheathing his sabers and leaving the building, giving the impression of a Dark Jedi.

_Let's just hope nobody on the planet is force sensitive_. James thought worridly, thinking of all the complications of finding out a Dark Jedi was actually lightsided. That could be a problem. He spotted a cantina not too far of and decided to get his information there. With hood still up he approached the main doors and walked inside, earning a salute from the Sith soldier stationed there. The interior was so much more differant compared to the outside. Neon lights gave the only illuminations, drunken men tried to pick up uninterested women. Bar tenders served drinks, waitresses hurried around as quickly as they could. Music blared, and from somewhere he felt Revan in the next room. As he approached, he spotted him speaking to a blonde haired woman that was complaining about something or another. Off to the side he spotted Carth, orange jacket and all. James could help but have a smile of satisfaction grace his features as Carth seemed to look panicky very quickly. Only when James pulled down his hood did he relax.

"God, I thought you were a Dark Jedi. Don't _ever_ do that to me again." Carth repromanded, stabbing a finger into James' chest. James merely chuckled before asking his question. "What's Kaidon doing?" He asked as he motioned over to him with a tilt of the head. Carth seemed to become instantly annoyed. "Some woman bought him a drink as we were trying to find out any information and he instantly went over to her muttering something about 'a feeling'." Carth finished, obviously pissed at his insobordinate. After a few more minutes of talking and discussing possible ways down to the undercity where James felt Dan and Bastila's presence, Kaidon walked back over with a very smug look on his face, and some directions on a datapad.

"What are you so happy about?" James asked with an amused expression. Kaidon merely flourished the datapad whilst saying, "Directions to a party that some Sith officers are throwing." Carth looked shocked, and then instantly proud as he clapped Kaidon on the back. James merely smiled and nodded, before announcing him leaving. "Where are you gonna go?" Kaidon asked, confusion on his face. "Lower city." Was all James replied with. Both Carth and Kaidon shared a look of confusion before simultaniously asking, "How?" James merely chuckled before replying, "The Sith mistake me for a Dark Jedi. I always knew these robes would pay off one day." James muttered that last part low enough for it to be drowned out by the background noise of the cantina.

Earning a good-luck from both soldiers, James put his hood back up and headed off towards the exit, where he was stopped by a small hand grabbing his forearm. "Waiter, can you please fetch my drink? I've been waiting for an absolute age." The snobby young woman ordered, not even looking at his appearance. James merely bent over to her level and said. "I'm a Jedi. Not a waiter. Go find one if your that desperate for a drink." With that, the girls eyes widened in shock before becoming angry slits. "How dare you speak to me like that!" James resisted the urge to face palm, "Just you wait until Daddy hears about this!" She yelled as she ran out of the building and off into the street. _Wait, what the fuck just happened?_ James asked himself within the reccesses of his own mind, before shaking his head sadly and began walking to the elevator he knew would lead to the lower city.

On his way there, he noticed two Rodians and a human blocking his way. "I have no time for your games miss. Why don't you just take these two wanna be thugs and go home." James called out as he approached the three. The woman obviously didin't hear him as she just motioned for the two to attack. Foolishly, the two Rodian's charged him with vibroswords instead of attempting to attack him from a distance. When the two were about to lung at him, James decided to just raise a hand and lift them off the ground. It was ammusing watching the girls expression of shock, along with the two Rodian's. Eventually, after holding them there for about thirty seconds, James dropped them as they reached for their blasters. As each fired a volley of shots, James brought his two lightsabers swinging around his body, deflecting each one back at them, causing their bodies to almost dance as each bolt hit their torso. The girl had already running away yelling 'Daddy'. As James sheathed his lightsabers and continued on, he spotted a few fearful glances from the citizens. Using the force, James extended his will, and allowed a feeling of calmness to overcome the gathered populace.

Eventually James reached the elevator and recieved a salute, quickly followed by an elevator door opening, curtesy of the Sith guard standing there. With a firm nod, James walkedin, closed the door and headed for the lowercity.

* * *

**AN:** Ok, so here's the uppercity done for now. When I was writing this, I thought, "Why would James have to get all the armour? Why not just pose as a Dark Jedi?" And then this chapter popped up out of the jar of happy thoughts! :)

Okay, so tell me what you think, and I realise that it's a little fast paced, but remmember that the second part of this chapter took place in probably just an hour or so... ish? Maybe two maximum.

RnR! **-INSERT FUNNY JOKE HERE, A SMILEY FACE AND THE PROMISE OF COOKIES AND MILK-**


	4. Chapter 3

The lowercity streets were all but abandoned once the elevator doors slid open, with only a slight resistance. The figure stepped out of the illuminations of the elevator and began slowly walking down the pitiful street.

Alleyways branched off the main road, that no doubt lead to the apartment complexes of this street, and further more the Undercity elevator as well. As the figure continued on down the street, all kinds of rubbish passed by his feet, causing the only sounds in the depressing lives of the lowerclass of Taris.

Upon rounding his first corner, the figure stopped before a group of three more figures. The middle one stepped forward, unhooking his weapon from it's sheath as he spoke, the two behind him copied his moves, "Lord Malak was most displeased you escaped Revan's ship alive. He has offered a great reward to whoever destroy's you." As the final words escape it's mouth, all the robes covering the four figures dropped. Three dropped to reveal a trio of Dark Jedi, whereas the lone figure revolved into the figure of James.

Summoning the force to bring his sabers to his hands, James mentally got into his zone for when it came to a fight. Closing his eyes, James activated his twin blades simultaniously, using the force to determin which assailant would strike first. As fate would have it, the leader attacked first, but sloppily. His form was all over the place. It was a mirical that this man had not been killed sooner. Instantly James' eyes shot open as he brought his red lightsaber above his head to stave the attack off, whilst using his purple blade to swipe the mans chest. With an agonised cry, the man fell, lifeless before he hit the floor. The two others looked nervously at each other. James believed them better trained, but still fresh to Jedi killings.

The one on the right, obviously a woman due to her curves, hefted a double blades red lightsaber, whilst the male on the right held two lightsabers much the same as James'. The only differance being his blades were shorter than the Jedi's.

Spinning his sabers around him once, James used the force to black out the lights temporarily as he shut off his sabers. The Dark Jedi weren't as smart and kept theirs on, casting eerily red shadows along each wall. A sound of a pebble being kicked instantly made the two Sith spin around, swinging their blades. What they weren't expecting was for James to be standing between the two of them as he activated his sabers. The woman was a little quicker than the male and quickly adapted, whereas the slowness of the male cost him his life.

As James slowly turned around, allowing the lights to return to life, he slowly approached the scared Sith, who was backed up against the wall, nervously sending bolts of lightning his way, upon which he merely absorbed with his lightsaber. The woman fell to her knees and dropped her lightsaber at her feet, begging for her life,

"Please, I'll do anything! Please don't kill me! I was forced to train with the Sith! Let me go, I beg you!" She cried in self pity, and if James was correct, she only sounded as old as an elder teenager. No doubt she'd had to do many dispicable things whilst training. James never shifted his stance, nor showed any change on his facial features. "How do I know your telling the truth?" At this, the woman ripped off her mask to reveal a young and unscarred face, with fading yellow eyes. "Use the force, tell me if you find I'm lying." She demanded, the pleading in her voice dissapeared, leaving James to search her thoughts.

Upon not finding anything decietful, he decided on a course of action. "Go to Dantooine. Tell them that I sent you there. You know my name, yes?" Upon her quick nod, James continued, "But first answer me a few things. Have you had any information through the Sith that Bastila Shan and Daniel Newberry have been harmed or captured by anyone?" When she looked thoughtful, James paused, allowing her time to respond. "We got a tip that they had been taken by the Black Vulcars. Well, one of them anyway. The Hidden Becks may have the other. I'd think about checking the Hidden Becks myself." When she finished answering, James continued on with his final question, "What will Malak do if he can't find Bastila?" At this the woman looked down at the floor, sadness in her eyes completly, "He'll do the last thing he _can_ do. He'll destroy the planet. I'd give it a few days, tops." At this she quickly bowed before James, "James Merek, I pledge my allegiance to the Jedi Order, I owe you a debt that can never be repaid. I shall go to Dantooine and plead my case there, and petition for a master. If our paths cross again, I would wish that I will have earned your trust. May the force be with you." She finished as she stood up and bowed her head in respect, to which James just gave a simple nod, signaling that she should leave. Now. As he watched her run, he thought just how much she looked like a younger version of Sasha.

After she had dissapeared from view, James gathered his robe, slipped it on and continued to the Hidden Beck base that James remmembered from dealings in the past. It was where he was originally heading for anyway.

* * *

As he approached the base, James noticed a tall, strongly built black woman with sharp features and an even sharper double bladed tremor sword standing guard vigilently outside the Bek entrance.

As he got closer, without breaking stride, he allowed his robe to open at the front, revealing his two personalised cylinders hanging on his hips. The hilts were as deadly as they were beautiful. Eventually, the woman finally spoke up after eyeing up his appearance and noticed his lightsabers.

"Friend or foe?" The woman demanded, getting ready to fight if she had to. James took this all in stride and pulled back his hood enough for her to reconise his face. "Friend." He spoke in a low, barely audiable tone as he glanced over his shoulder and spotted Kaidon and Carth in a small brawl with the Black Vulcars.

He knew their leader, unfortunatly for James, personally. James had known him when he was second in command of the Beks and once the breakaway from his original gang, there was a killing at the peace agreement between the Beks and Vulcars. It was his Jedi partner for the mission. A woman named Anja Tamari, a bright eyed young Jedi knight who weilded a particularly elegant double bladed yellow staffsaber. If James would ever be able to regain it, he'd place it within her burial chamber on Dantooine. Right before the rolling hills of Dantooine began after you left the Enclave there. Every evening, the sun would just shed it's last rays on her concealed resting place. Every Jedi that fell beside James and Dan, they brought home and buried on Dantooine, or Alderaan.

He was brought out of his memories by the door slowly sliding apart to allow him entrance. He respectfully bowed to the guard and went inside to talk to a friend on Taris.

On his way down the main corridor to the main room, James passed a young, blue Twi'lek and a huge Wookie. Giving both a polite berth, he continued on his way along the otherwise empty corridor. The walls were generally a metalic grayish blue colour that was the personal colour of the Hidden Beks, and would continue to be for the rest of their existance. As James walked up to the final, familier door to the main hub of the gang, James felt fear and pain from Dan and Bastila down in the undercity before they both became muted, Bastila much more so.

Moving with a greater sense of urgency, James rushed into the room, earning cautious glances from all the present gang members and angry threats from Zeadra. "Stop, or I'll blast you into atoms right where you stand." She called over.

Upon seeing her, James felt an anger that he wasn't used to. The sudden yellow glow of his eyes told Zeadra to back down immediatly, to which Gadon just chuckled heartily and embraced a Jedi friend that he hadn't seen in years. Upon the two friends embracing, James' eyes returned to their natural dark colour and a smile graced his features as he removed his robe. "So, what brings a Jedi to a planet under Sith control, hmm?" Gadon began as he sat down across from James on a seat with the same colour as all the walls.

James was about to reply when Gadon held up a hand to silence him. "I know why your here. Your looking for those two Republic officers aren't you?" When James merely took a sip of some offered Juma juice and nodded, Gadon continued. "Well, the woman was captured by the Vulkars. The man, they left him for dead." When that last bit was announced, James let forth a spray of the intoxicating liquid from his mouth. "They _what_?" James demanded, anger coming forth again. James quickly calmed himself down after a second or two whilst repeating the Jedi code over and over in his head. "He wasn't just a republic officer. My spy's that were there told me that he was a Jedi. Her too. He was protecting the woman at the hidden camp that they'd set up, and as she was hit by a stray shot, he let his guard down. He was shot seven times in the back as he tried to get to her. They say Brejik's got both of their lightsabers as well." Gadon finished it off there, noticing two more figures approaching.

As Zeadra stepped up to them, James spun around and threw her against the wall with the force. "Kaidon, hold her arms, Carth, you get the legs." James ordered, as he began searching her body. He'd heard it, and he was going to find it, even if it killed him. As he searched everywhere apart from her head, she began yelling at the top of her voice about being violated by a sick Jedi.

Finally searching her head, James spotted a small audio recording device hidden between her two head tails. When he brought it before her face, she instantly looked guilty, not wanting to meet the gaze of Gadon or any other Bek. After he showed it to Gadon, he decided to crush it, slowly. Doing this would mean that whoever was listening on the other end would be temporarily deafened by the static coming through. With a quick hand motion, Gadon sent two lacky's over to escort Zeadra to the holding cells that they had fashioned, after disarming her of course. James finally acknowledged Kaidon and Carth since the incident and welcomed them with a smile,

"Thanks guy's, would've taken longer if you hadn't shown up. May I introduce you both to a personal friend of mine, Gadon Thek, leader of the Hidden Beks." When both men said their hello's, James motioned for them to take a seat and for Gadon to continue and bring them up to speed.

"As I was just saying, there were reports of two Republic officers crash landing into the undercity in the same pod. Now, my spy's that were just there at their capture have informed me that they were both Jedi. One was a man. The other, a woman. They captured the woman, and left the man for dead." Kaidon and Carth seemed incredulous. They had only thought that Bastila had gotten away as far as they were concerned. Kaidon spoke up to ask the question both soldiers were wanting an answer to.

"How did some common street thugs over power two well trained Jedi?" At this, Gadon seemed a little afronted, but quickly hid it. Not quick enough to hide it from James though.

"They stunned the woman with a lucky shot, and the man let his guard down as he went over to help her. The man took seven shots to the back. They said that he was barely alive when they checked him." When James reached out into the force, and into the bonds he held with his friends, he sensed Bastila's muted presence somewhere in the Lowercity, and Dan's slowly building one in the undercity. Right where the outcast village was supposed to be. This brought some elation to James' feelings and allowed the anger that had been churning in him recently to just dissapear and to be replaced by hope. Hope that Dan would be okay to move, and hope that after they got Bastila off planet.

During his searching, he'd missed a fair amount of the ten minutes he'd been zoned out of. Coming back to the conversation, he saw Kaidon and Gadon shaking hands. "So, find Mission, get into the Vulkar base, steal the prototype and race in the opener? Sounds like a deal to me." Kaidon announced as they finished their confirmation. After that was done, the two soldiers stood up and looked over to James. "I need to clear a few things up. Go. I'll meet you in the outcast village." He said with a dismissive wave.

Both soldiers nodded and began walking to the door. Since the crash, all formalities had been thrown right out of the fucking window. James was secretly glad. He hated soldier's always looking up to the Jedi, and the Jedi always thinking they knew everything about a combat situation. It took _time_ to learn how to lead soldiers. James had learnt this very early on in the Jedi civil war. It was also a skill that he'd have to keep on learning. There was never any perfect commander. Only imperfect ones.

Gadon watched the others go before he poured himself another cup of Juma. "Gadon, you know you can't let Kaidon ride the prototype. For all you know, it'll atomise him. Why not put any of _your_ riders on it, instead someone I've been ordered to look aft- shit, I've said too much." James cursed himself for the slip that he'd made. Gadon didn't even raise an eyebrow at it, and merely accepted that there were things he shouldn't know. "Your friend. He's alive isn't he? It's Dan isn't it?" Gadon asked as James was putting on his robe. The mere pause gave Gadon all the answers he needed. Say what you want about a blind man with cybernetic eyes, but they can read anyone, Jedi included, like a book. Gadon merely nodded before telling him to hurry his ass up, to which James happily agreed before bidding his friend goodbye and walked out of the base.

James ran as fast as he could down the deserted streets of the Lowercity. Trash was thrown around violently by the maliscious hand of the wind, causing cans to scrape along the floor, or papers to slowly fly by. James rounded what must have been his seventeenth corner, running on memory alone to where the elevator was, and came in sight of his goal.

Gauding it was an unobservant Sith grunt. James had no time to play Dark Jedi, and instead merely threw his purple lightsaber at his targets head. The head hit the floor before the body. Upon this attack, the turrets began to turn to face him, but were all interrupted by a wave of lightning meant to short circuit the annoying little bastards. As he sprinted into the elevators open and waiting doors, he unconciously fixed his personalised Jedi robes and hair, pulling the hood over his eyes once the doors closed.

* * *

**AN:** Ooh! Well, James is now in a hurry, and there wont be as much of him in the next few chapters, which I find nice, considering how so far in the KoTOR storyline, it's mainly been focused on him since the Endar Spire. Well, next chapter, Dan will definatly be found, but in what state, you wont know until I post it. I admit, I spit out fairly short chapters, but I believe that there's enough detail in them to make them pretty epic. What do you guys think?

Another pointer, who like James' short Darksider moment? ;)

For anyone who decides to flame me on the emotions shown by James and later by Dan, remmmeber that these two came to the order later than the average padawan, and they may be equals to Revan, and only Revan, but they still make mistakes and aren't infallible and have epic god powers. Their still only human. Also, remmember that James also shares a bond with Sasha, who is another fairly emotional Jedi, much like Bastila and Juhani.

Anyone got any idea's for what should become of the Sith that James sent to Dantooine, send it us in a review and suggest any names as well please! :)

People will also notice that I've changed James' last name, and dropped a hint a story in the KOTOR and Battlefront 2 epics section of the Star wars communities section. If any of you can spot it, then send it to me in a review and write the name of a character (first and last name) and their species and characteristics, to have your own Jedi or Sith in the story, that will cause a small problem for James and Dan, not to mention the rest of the crew.

**NOW GO READ DISPLACEMENT IN THE OLD REPUBLIC'S LATEST CHAPTER! IT'S SICK! :)**


	5. Chapter 4

"Fine, take your damn credits." Kaidon muttered, a little put down by how he had to part with five of the few credits that they had to survive on for a few more days. As the two beggars ran off in joy, the elevator doors opened behind them, causing Kaidon and Carth to spin around, hands on thier weapons.

They only relaxed once they saw James stood there, cloak over his eyes that showed only worry behind them. As he stepped up to the two soldiers he nodded briskly before a woman shyly approached them.

"Hi, erm, your from the uppercity, right?" When all three nodded simultaniously, she continued, "I was just wondering... Could you tell me what it looks like? I mean during the day. Is it beautiful?" Kaidon steped forward and gave her a warm smile whilst holding her shoulder gently, the action alone was enough for her to blush deeply. "It's a truly beautiful sight. The way the sunlight is reflected off the durasteel panels on all the buildings, it's truely a sight to behold." Once he finished, he noticed her mouth hanging open in awe, that was, before she regained her senses and looked down sadly. "I only wish I could see it. Anyway, was there something you needed?" She asked with a warm smile. Carth, Kaidon and James all instantly looked down a little guiltily at the fact they couldn't stay and chat.

"Guy's, you both go on ahead, I've got to search for Dan. He's around here somewhere." James said as he looked around, squinting as he did so. He didn't want to draw on his powers in excess in case it alerted Malak and any other Dark Jedi. As the two nodded, and began walking away, he pulled the woman over to the side and spoke quietly to her.

"Have you been harbouring a Jedi here? I need to know. He needs medical attention. He's my closest friend." James finished in an almost beg.

Without saying a word, the woman pulled him towards a dark hut entrance silently. James complied almost instantly, hope welling up within him. Once he was inside, he waited for the woman to create some semblence of light. When she did not, he became a little annoyed and ignited his purple lightsaber. This earned a short gasp of surprise and then a look of awe, viewable only because of the purple light now enveloping the dark, musty room.

The woman edged a little bit away from him, which caused James to feel a little guilty about him startling her. After a minute or so, she finally worked up the nerve to ask him a very important question. One that she would remmember for the rest of her life, "Are you a _Jedi_?" she asked, awe and hope evident in her voice as she eyed the magnificent blade. "I am." Was his only reply as he absentmindedly swung his saber in a complicated series of twirls around his person.

"I've only heard tales of Jedi. Have you come to save us?" She asked, hoping for the answer she knew wouldn't come. James, yet again, looked down at his feet in guilt. "I'm afraid not. Sorry." At this, she looked down sad, but then quickly changed her mood into one of happiness.

"This way then, and you'll find your friend." She responded cheerfully, pulling his hand down the passage. James only looked on in wonder as she seemingly sensed a moment of danger and held him back. She reacted so quickly, that he himself would have had to draw upon the force to avoid some of the rocks falling.

While she was leading him, he allowed his mind to wander into the force to search for her force potential, what he found was fairly surprising to say the least.

She was as strong as _Zhar_!

Quickly regaining his senses, he looked at her as they stopped, she eyed him back nervously and fiddled with the hem of her tunic. "Your force sensitive." James stated, matter of factly a he deactivated his saber and clipped it back on his belt. When she finally absorbed what he had just said, a look of panic and worry overcame her face. "Force sensitive? Is that dangerous?" James looked panicy before he answered, never before getting this reaction.

Throughout his servitude as a knight, he had found many a force sensitive in his travels. Some he sent off to the Jedi, others refused the opportunity, to which they were rightly entitled to do so.

"Nonononono, don't worry. Force sensitivity is what you need to be able to control the force. All Jedi have it, though we're usually discovered at a young age. Looks like you've learned to tame your gift a little already." James recovered, feeling flustered at having to explain this to a woman that looked no older than eighteen.

Slowly, as if being relucantly dragged across her face, realisation began to dawn on her. "Are you saying that I could become a-a_ Jedi_?" She stammered out, having to lean against the wall to the final chamber to keep herself upright. She looked pale. _Very_ pale. "Yes, possibly, though you are older than the average apprentice. If you want, I could try and take you with us when we manage to escape off world. We'll probably head to Dantooine, as were our pre-arranged coordinates before crash landing here." He whispered lowly as an outcast sauntered by, blindly clinging to the walls to help in their journey. The woman, slowly but surely nodded her head as a huge grin spread across her face. "I'd like that very much." James then realised, he never even knew her name and resisted the urge to face palm for what must've been the tenth time today, at least.

"What's your name?" He asked politly, as they entered the final cavernous room in which an unconcious Daniel lay there, pale as ever. She looked over at him with a warm smile and said one word, "Shaleena." James smiled warmly and bowed at the waist as he announced his, "James Merek, Jedi knight, at your service." James' smile dissapeared once someone began chuckling as best they could whilst coughing. James and Sasha both rushed over to the fallen Jedi that was clinging to the ropes of life, in a dark, dank and filthy cave that had been created by the desendants of the criminals of Taris' long past.

There, lying on his back, more pale than he had ever been in his life, lay Daniel Newberry, one of the most powerful Jedi Sentinals of the era, and best friend to James Merek, Bastila Shan, Sasha Corna and Revan Skywalker. His whole body trembled as if he were still in shock, and then lay tock still. James felt the force flow through Dan at a more powerful rate than usual, and deduced that he'd entered a deep healing trance. James looked to Shaleena quickly and asked her a very important question. "Will you assist me in getting him some medical attention? I'll need some help getting him to the uppercity."

Just this one request nearly made her keel over in shock, and so when she regained her senses, yet again, she nodded with such a speed, her head nearly became a blur. With a small chuckle, James grabbed Dan by his biceps and motioned for Shaleena to grab both his legs. Making it easier for the two of them, James used the force to lessen Dan's weight a little as well.

They began at a steady jog, and headed for the shining sun of the uppercity.

* * *

Sasha paced with such a ferocity, she could've sworn that she'd spotted the beginnings of a path being carved into the floor. Nobody had contacted her in the last six hours, and all she'd felt from James recently was a sense of worry and urgency.

She tried to make herself useful about the apartment, as anyone would, but there just wasn't anything that they could do.

With an annoyed sigh, she went and made herself some caffa. The caffa took what felt like a century to finally brew and as she allowed the sweetness of it to fill her body with warmth, she went and checked herself in the mirror, anxiously awaiting his return.

There, in the mirror, was a slender woman, with porceline features and long, dark brunette hair that reached between her shoulder blades when loose. Her lips were a natural ruby red and her eyes were a strong, intense blue colour.

Despite being the cluts she could be in a battle, and the numerous threats of death she'd walked away from, her entire body was unscathed, unlike her bond mate, who had often been the reason she'd walked away. Her robes were the standard sandy colour of most Jedi accross the galaxy, and somehow, someone believed it'd be funny to have issued her with a tunic, a size to small, for this mission. It hugged her curvacious body. She imagined that it just so happened to be her bond mate. _Yet again_ pulling a well natured prank on her. When she sensed relief from James, she decided to contact him.

_Are you okay?_

_I'm fine Sasha, we just got Dan to an imfirmary, just south of the apartment. He'll be good to go in a few hours._

_Good. Wait, what do you mean, 'we'?_

_Me and a force sensitive that I discovered in the undercity. Her name is Shaleena. I'm taking her to Dantooine._

_Why is it, that you seem to have sent more force sensitives to the Jedi, than master Vandar has in his entire life?_

She swore she heard James give a mental shrug as he replied,_ It must be my amazing personality._

She glared at the wall at that, _James, you'd better have made some damn progress. Do you realise how boring it is just sitting here, having nothing to do?_

_Then I'd like you to do me a favour, if your 'oh so bored'. You think you could find any sandy tunics for Shaleena? She's still wearing the outfit of an outcast woman._

_I am _not_ your errand girl James Merek!_

_I'm not asking you to do an errand. It's an act of nessessity. She's drawing unwanted attention. I've had to put on the 'Dark Jedi' act at least four times on the way back to the apartment now._

_Fine, but your going to do something for me when we get off Dantooine as payment._

_Fine. Just hurry up, try the vendor by the appartment. I've just heard from Carth and Kaidon, god I _hate_ calling him that, that they've just rescued a wookie that swore a life debt to 'Kaidon'._

_Alright, alright, I'm going, I'm going. Sheesh._

_

* * *

_

"James, you there?" Shaleena asked as she waved a small hand infront of James' face as they neared the appartment complex that James was going to order Shaleena to stay in whilst he went off and looked over Dan. With a small grunt, James returned to the land of the zoned _in_.

"Wha? Oh right, I was talking to another Jedi. A good friend of mine and Dan's. She's got a sharp tongue. Think you'll like her." James finished with a wicked smile as Shaleena grinned at him. "Told her to get you a few sets of tunics as well. You can't stay in them," James said as he waved a hand at her robes, "your drawing unwanted attention to us. I can hide you, but only so much." By now they were at the doors for the apartment, and were waiting for it to slowly open, James sensed danger and slowly spun around, and there he was. A Dark Jedi, robe on the floor and lightsaber at the ready.

"More of you? Are they breeding you like Gizka now?" James complained as he ushered Shaleena behind him, dropped his cloak and activated his own blades. Behind him, he could hear Shaleena gasp in anticipation of the first fight she was going to witness between a Jedi and a Sith. On the way up, James had explained to her the differance between the two. The dark Jedi paced backwards and forewards, almost taunting James to make the first move. _This must be the big boss of all Dark Jedi on the ground then_, James thought, flourishing his twin blades in his reverse Jar'kai stance. Behind his back, both of his blades created a large 'X'.

"I see that you sent your whore shopping. I'll have fun with her, right before I kill her I think." The Sith taunted, causing James to tense up instantly. Nobody could have known that he'd sent Sasha to pick up Shaleena's new clothes unless she was being watched from inside the complex. Shaleena noticed it to, and now honestly worried for the Sith. James leapt, with an appearance of calmness, but inside he was screaming. Quickly ignoring his raging sea of emotions, he came down on top of the Sith in an overhead strike, that was quickly blocked by the Sith's single blade. Once James landed he went straight in for the attack, not wanting to give his opponant any time to recover. A quick slash to the legs was avoided by a quick jump in the air, that left the Sith vulnerable to a force push, that sent him inside the building opposite. Shaleena stood there, scared half to death when she was startled by a woman running out of the building behind her activating a lightsaber of her own, that was a brilliant blue colour. She quickly nodded at Shaleena and took a running leap into the whole in the wall, naturally, Shaleena joined the growing crowd that was watching in anticipation.

* * *

_Strike_

_Parry_

_Strike_

_Strike_

_Parry_

_Dodge_

The fight had been going on like this for a while until Sasha decided to join in the frey. Bringing her own lightsaber to bare on the Sith from behind. She looked like she was planning on slashing the Sith across the back, but James' own surprise alerted him. James had been kicked back momentarily stumbling him whilst the Sith spun around, blocked the attack and pushed her out of the building, rendering her unconcious or dead, depending on how hard he had pushed her. With an agonised yell, James allowed the lightside of the force to flow into his every pore on his body. He absorbed so much of the force, that his eyes changed to a powerful blue colour. He attached his sabers to his belt quickly and concentrated on getting a good hold on the Sith. He reached out both his hands before him, legs spread wide. The Sith called out in surprise upon realising he was flying. With powerful swings, James caused him to crash against each and every available surface in the room. Eventually the Sith gave out a small cry before James dropped him to his knees. Activating his sabers once more, James approached the Sith that was barely alive and held both sabers just millimeters from his neck. The Sith laughed evilly, despite his relativly short future. "Go on. Do it, and your fall to the Darkside shall be complete." James faultered, but only for a second before he advanced a step. "You mistake my reasoning." And without allowing the Sith a response, James flicked his wrists and beheaded the Sith.

* * *

The fight was both marvelous and wonderful, but at the same time destructive and terrifying. James and the Sith had been in a one sided fight for the better part of twenty minutes whilst James threw him around. Shaleena stood there in wonder, and also fear, that one day she'd be able to do the things that she'd seen. A mixture of emotions ran through her, and she stood there, stock still until she regained some semblence of composure. Quickly realising that the other Jedi was a companion of James', she ran over to check her vitals. Living in the undercity for eighteen years gives you fairly competant medical knowledge. Escpecially with all the rakghouls running around right outside your village. After checking the womans neck, she calmed down and began moving her away out of the prying eyes of the public. When James returned with his cloak over his face, he handed Shaleena a set of spare Jedi robes to wear for now, bent down and touched Sasha's forehead, causing her to snap her eyes open.

"What happened?" She asked quickly, trying to sit up, and wincing from the effort. _It's going to take a good twelve hours in a healing trance to fix that_, she thought, rubbing her tender shoulders. "Where's Shaleena?"

"Calm down, I gave her a set of your robes to change into to hide herself. They seem to know what we're doing, so we're gonna go stay at the Bek base for now." James said in a quiet whisper as he rubbed her back tenderly. Sasha merely buried her head in his chest and took pleasure in his presence. When Shaleena returned, she looked like most Jedi do in public when they don't want to draw attention. She had her hood over her eyes, casting a shadow on her face. _She'd be a perfect Jedi_, James thought with a grin. He picked Sasha up carefully and began walking towards the elevator, oblivious to the pair of eyes watching them.

_They'll do. They'll do._ The figure thought before moving along.

* * *

**AN:** Okay, soooo cliffhanger! i'll give anyone who gets the name of the mysterious figure correct, a cookie! :D

I found it really fucking difficult to write for other characters besides James, especially after doing so much work on him... :/ Tell me if you guys think I did a good enough job or not! :D

I remmember when i played the game, and i finished talking to Shaleena, and i thought... Biowares a load of bitches for not giving her the chance to join the crew... -..-

As you have all probably guessed, the crew of the _Hawk_ will grow slightly, because, lets face it. Nine people is not enough to end a war... two more Jedi will join the crew... :D

Now... as usual, i feel i have to say this... **GO READ DISPLACEMENT IN THE OLD REPUBLIC!**

-** INSERT FUNNY JOKE HERE** -


	6. Chapter 5

Shaleena struggled to keep the hood over her eyes as she ran through the undercity of Taris. She'd been here only once, and was therefore following her saviour to their destination. Upon rounding the final bend, she stopped, sweating profusly and out of breath. She was about to complain when the reason they were running finally caught up to them.

_The Sith_.

Force only knew she hated them at this point. As she ran on, fear instantly gripped her as the sounds of blasters impacting the area around her feet grew with an intensity. As far as they knew, the Sith currently chasing them through the streets of lowercity Taris had not called for reenforcements, and therefore the other Sith probably had no idea that two Jedi and an acomplice had been discovered. They were only a few meters from their destination now, and only the first of the Sith would watch them escape. As Shaleena watched the door to the Bek base open upon the command of the sentry, she watched as James stopped, Sasha still unconcious in his arms as he waited for her to catch up. Just as she thought she would make it, a burning pain erupted in her left shoulder blade. The pain was unlike anything she had seen in the past. She collapsed at his feet, shaking and convulsing violently. Inside her own head, she screamed in agony, whereas on the outside she ground her teeth together and refused to look weak. She believed to be left for dead until the sounds of lightsabers coming to life forced her to snap her eyes open. There, stood defiantly before all the Sith was James. He deflected blaster shots and sliced open Sith that were foolish enough to get too close. As darkness began to envelop her vision, she felt the sensation of being dragged into a building right before she passed out.

Kaidon and Carth were covered in sewage, grime and a little bit of dried blood. Carth ran with a bit of a limp, and Kaidon had popped his left shoulder out of it's socket, rendering that arm useless for now. They had fought through the undercity, found mission, fought through the sewers, found Zaalbar, fought and killed a rancor, infiltrated the Vulcar base, fought through the base, stole a prototype swoop engine, and finally fought their way out. You can imagine the annoyance at finding what must have been a battalion of Sith troopers firing at an unseen enemy. Zaalbar let out a small whine from just above and behind Kaidon who led the group back to the Bak base. "What are they all doin'?" Mission asked curiously. Besides a few cuts and bruieses, she was fine. Kaidon and Carth were definatly jealous. "Dunno kid. Maybe they found out the Beks gave us those papers?" Carth wondered, wincing slightly as he put pressure on his ingured left leg. A small gasp eminated behind them at the mention of that. Kaidon shot an angry glare at Carth. As the group advanced cautiously, they heard what sounded like lightsabers deflecting the bolts away, causing Kaidon and Carth to look at each other wide eyed as they yelled the same thing. "James and Sasha!" The two took off in a sprint, Kaidon popping his shoulder back in it's socket and Carth completly ignoring his leg. Once they arrived, they spotted half the battalion laying there, dead. The other half didn't look like they were giving up however.

Unholstering their blasters, they both let loose a constent stream of blaster bolts onto the unsuspecting Sith from behind. Most shots found their marks and the lines of troopers fell quickly. The green bursts of energy from Zaalbars bowcaster stood out more than the two blurs of lightsabers did. Mission gave a startled cry when the few troopers that were left ignored James and began returning fire to them. As each of them ducked behind cover, Kaidon yelled a few things over to Carth. The words fells on deaf ears however as nothing could be heard over the sound of blaster fire. Then, as if somebody had hit the off switch, all the firing stopped, and Kaidon peeked his head around the corner of his cover carefully. What he saw shook him to the bone. There, behind restrained by a force inhibitor and held at the arms was James. Captured by mere grunts. They obviously had orders to take him and Sasha alive, or else he'd already be dead. The highest ranking trooper there that had survived stepped forward, blaster held at his side. "Come on out you Republic filth. We have your precious _Jedi_ here. If you don't come out, then he'll die. Or are you of the Beks? Either way, we should just kill you right now. Or better yet, should we kill the Jedi?" The officer taunted, raising his blaster and leveling it at James' chest.

"Don't come out! Run!" they heard James yell at the top of his voice as he struggled against his captors, to which his efforts were rewarded by getting punched in the gut. Hard.

"It's no matter. We'll get you soon enough. This whole damn planet will bow to us soon. Take him to the base!" The trooper called out, lagging behind a little as he took up the rear. Kaidon brought his head back round with a look of horror etched onto his face. His expression was copied by each team member next to him. Mission put a hand to her mouth and spoke first.

"What are we going to do?" She cried out, as all hope began to dwindle. Out of all of them, the Jedi had been the most resorcefull as of yet. Especially James. Kaidon came out of his stupor and began walking to the Bek base. "We'll do the only thing we can do at the moment. We'll give Gadon his accelalerator, and then we'll rescue Bastila. Then and only then will we focus on getting James back." And as he walked closer to the Bek base, he finally took in, in great admiration, how much of a good fighter James really was. No average Jedi could have survived a constant barrage from Sith troopers.

* * *

A moist hand on her forehead.

Muffled voices.

The smell of oil.

The sounds of mechanics.

Sasha woke with a start, and bolted upright, and was very quickly laid back down by the woman she had seen watching James. She was wearing a set of her Jedi robes. It was definatly an improvement from the rags she was wearing before. Could those be, _tears_ in her eyes? Sasha left all grogginess behind and asked a quick question as she looked about the room, "Where's James?" she demanded, attempting to stand, but found herself weak from painkillers. The woman seemed to tear up a little at this, and Sasha sensed something was wrong. "He was captured by the Sith. They took him to the base in the uppercity." As she finished, her body flared up, as if it were on fire. She cried out in agony as she fell to the floor. They were torturing James.

* * *

His scream died in his dry throat. He'd been suffering like this now for the last twenty four hours. They never asked any questions, or demanded any information. No. They just repeatedly electricuted him with a sick sense of victory and amusement deep within their eyes. He was on a durasteel slab lying on his back spread eagled. His clothes were ripped to shreads, but they at least allowed him a sense of dignity. Deep within the recesses of his own mind, he could feel Sasha suffering the same agony as he. If something didn't happen soon, he felt he was going to break.

* * *

The swoop race was well under way when Sasha had woken up, and Carth had been informed. Carth had wasted no time, and trusted in his ally to get the job done, and had therefore gone to check on her. When he arrived, he thought he was going to be sick. There she was, lying on the floor, writhing in pain for some unknown reason and screaming out for it to stop. She was clawing at her Jedi robes and leaving them in shreads as well. The force sensitive that James had found in the undercity just stood there in terror at what was going on before her eyes. Tears streamed down her face and her hands were shaking. Carth turned around in the doorway and yelled at the Beks in the next room. "I need some morphine in here! Get enough to knock a Mynock out!" When they all scrambled to get some, only then did Carth finally turn around and try to calm the screaming Jedi. From what James had told Carth, the two of them had some sort of _bond_ that meant they could feel each others emotions, communicate over long distances, and in extreem cases feel each others pain and discomfort to such a degree that if one should die, it's a possibility the other would do so as well. As Carth tried to subdue and quieten her, she faught back with such a ferocity that scared him. It was another three hours by the time he managed to calm her down, after which time, he did a small and quick search of her personal belongings on her belt for anything that would help calm her down after she woke up. He was going through one of the larger pouches when a small personalised beacon fell out. _So this is what they were on about on the __**Spire**__..._ Carth thought deeply and then an idea struck him. If he activated it, once Dan awoke in the medical facility, he'd know where to come. Quickly flipping the switch, he waited in anticipation of when backup would arrive.

* * *

The figure had been sat in the upper city cantina now for a good few hours, watching the events of the Taris swoop racing opener unfold before him. To the surprise of his betting partners, he placed all of his money on the rookie saying, "I got a feelin' he's gonna be good."

The last race had finished a good few minutes ago, and he watched with a sly smile as the rookie won the race and handled himself well in the ensuing battle. The woman that he free'd wasn't too bad of a fighter either, and despite the violence on the screen, a lot of the male patrons, and a few of the females were eyeing her barely covered body with a deep hunger in their eyes. Once the fight ended, and the fighters began walking away, he pulled over a green Twi'lek and asked a favour, enhancing the Twi'leks willingness with a few hundred credits. "Go and find that guy. He'll be at the Bek base. Tell him Canderous Ordo wishes to speak to him in the upper city cantina. Go, now." Canderous ordered in his usual gruff manner as he ordered another shot of Tarisian ale. He was just what he needed.

* * *

**AN:** It's a short chapter, I know, but a few chapters ago, I showed that Dan wasn't invincible, he was merely highly skilled, and in this, I wanted to show you how James is weak. James is weakened by his attachments, and he allows his personal feelings to cloud his judgement a lot of the time. It's just a heads up for in the future. And if anyone is stuggling for Dan's appearance, just think on an episode 3 anakin skywalker with no scar and no robot arm! :)

Hope you enjoy this short chapter, and I will admit, I was having trouble thinking of a way to link the last chapter with what I've got lined up! :)

In a review or private message, send in an answer for the question I gave you guys a few days ago about **_The Children_**. It's a good story, and try to find the referance I put in to recieve your own Jedi or Sith in the story! :D

**GO READ DISPLACEMENT IN THE OLD REPUBLIC DAMMIT!** ;)


	7. Chapter 6

_James' theme - Prince Neggaafellaga - introduction (feat. Starcrimes, A-Million)_

_

* * *

_The figure walked with such a confident aura, that even the large groups of gang members shuffled out of his way. If anyone would have taken the time to notice, they would have seen the Jedi robes beneath his cloak. The figure approached a large automatic door with a black sentry woman standing guard before it, turning visitors away. Without allowing her to notice his presence, the man slipped through the open doorway and proceeded on with his personal mission.

Every time the man would be confronted by a Bek, demanding what he was doing here, he would simply wave a hand and the Bek would fly out of his way and land with a dull thud against the opposite wall. During the entire seventeen times he resorted to this, he never once broke stride. Eventually, the man reached a smaller door to the one outside, that no doubt lead to the personal quarters for the current leader of the gang. Summoning enough of his power to blow the door from it's 'hinges', he let it all go with one huge push, startling the occupants of the room. One occupant spun around and fired two blaster bolts at him, another two went at him with swords and a final one ignited a brilliant blue lightsaber. The blaster bolts he merely stepped out of the way of one, and the other was deflected using the same technique that allows a Jedi to absorb a lightsaber with their bare hands. The two men with swords were frozen where they were, and the lightsaber was ripped from the womans hand and flew straight into his. "Now, is that _really_ any way to treat a friend?" At the quizical looks he recieved from everyone present, the figure dropped his hood, to allow everyone to gaze upon his features. His sandy brown hair had become curly as he allowed it to grow after his padawan years, and his slightly tan skin reflected the light in the room.

"Dan!" Sasha gasped as she ran up and embraced the Jedi sentinal in a warm and friendly hug. "Why didn't you contact us you idiot!" She repromanded as she slapped his arm. Dan just feigned hurt and laughed. "I just got let out. Where's James?" Dan asked as he looked about the room innocently. When he noticed all their expressions change, he instantly became worried and a little angry that James had let something happen to him. "What happened." Dan asked, raising his head a little, trying to stay calm. The man on his left spoke up first, "James was defending us against a battalion of Sith troopers. He got most of them before we got there. In the end, he was just overwhelmed." When Dan was about to inquire as to who he was, Sasha spoke up, "That's _Kaidon_, Dan. You know _Kaidon_ don't you?" Sasha interjected before she mouthed one word to him, _Revan_. He almost didn't reconise him after all these years. He was older sure, and his hair was an inch or two shorter than it used to be when he was a knight, but it was definatly Revan.

"Of course, how ignorant of me to forget. Daniel Newberry, Jedi knight, at your service." Dan announced as he gave a polite bow. He'd just straightened his back when he felt arms wrap themselves around his midsection. "Thank the _force_ your alright! If you'd died, I'd _never_ have forgiven you, you stupid Mynock!" A Talravian accented woman popped from behind. Dan thought he was going to be crushed. As he lifted his arms over her as he turned himself around in her embrace, he spotted three other individuals approaching from behind at a steady jog. "Who are these three?" Dan asked as he let go of Bastila. Sasha decided it best for her to explain. "The one in my robes is a woman named Shaleena, the Twi'lek is a woman named Mission Vao and the big fluff ball is a Wookie named Zaalbar." When Zaalbar objected, or that's what Dan believed it was, to being called a fluffball, Mission slapped his arm playfully, "Oh you know she really means; mean, green, fightin' machine!" and this single remark quickly eased the tension in the room and Carth piqued in saying, "You know, I would never, in my wildest dreams thought I'd ever be working with a soon to be Jedi, three knights, a spunky kid, a Wookie and a raw recruit." he chuckled before the only occupant to not have spoken up, decided to do so. "While you guys were talkin', my sentry told me that a message was left for you guys. A Mandalorian called Canderous Ordo, wishes to speak to you in the uppercity cantina. I don't know about you guy's, but I'd go. He might have a way off planet, ya never know." Gadon shrugged, running a weary hand over his shaved head. Sasha pulled Dan and Bastila over shakily whilst the others began getting ready for the uppercity. "Here are both your lightsabers. I'll keep hold onto Anja's for now. James was taken to the Sith base. You both go and wait near it, try to stay inconspicuous. We'll meet up with you later. I sense a chance off planet revealing itself soon. May the force be with you." She nodded as she attached her own lightsaber and Anja's to her belt and walked off. Dan and Bastila looked at each other, nodded and went off towards the exit of the base in silence, hoping for the best.

* * *

**AN: **okay, so a pathetically short chapter, but I wanted Dan to return, and be part of the team to enter the Sith base with Revan. In the next chapter, I shall be starting it from James' point of view in his holding cell just before his rescue. Afterwards, it'll go to Dan as he goes with Revan and Canderous to Daviks estate, and then finally, I think I'll do the escape for Taris as a seperate chapter. I hope it's a good return for Dan, and how it showed just a fraction of his powers, and a special ability that he shares with James and Sasha, but only when they concentrate hard enough... ;)

**READ DISPLACEMENT IN THE OLD REPUBLIC DAMMIT! AND REVIEW! I FEEL LONELY WITH ONLY 4 REVIEWS! :'(**


	8. Chapter 7

_Blink_

The world around him was completly blurred as he was dragged along by his arms, his knees almost touching the floor. In the corners of his vision he spotted a man standing in a medatation chamber with a double bladed sword, looking triumphant.

_Blink_

He was nearer this time, a smirk visable on the mouth attached to his bald head. James' two lightsabers hanging from his belt.

_Blink_

He was right infront of him this time, the Sith bending down to his level, a wicked smirk still on his face as he grabbed hold of his face. "My master shall surely reward me with my lightsaber once I destroy you." James rolled his head back and gave out a small chuckle, annoying the Sith to no end. "You still don't have your own lightsaber? Wow, sucks to be you, huh? And just to think as well, you'll have to learn all over again because there'll be no weight in the blade. Ouch." James finished in a calm voice as the Sith brought his arm up and backhanded him across the face. "You dare mock me! Here, right at your own death!" The Sith spat, fire in his yellow eyes. James merely smirked whilst saying, "What else is there for me to do? You only do this once, so I might as well make the most of it." The Sith never allowed James to continue, because he began bringing his blade around, ready to pierce him through the neck. A quick death, if you knew how to do it. Obviously this Sith didn't, a shame really. When the Sith saw no fear in his eyes, that's when he thrust.

The blow never came. No sound of ripping flesh. No blood spilling from his penatrated neck. Instead, only the sound of a lightsaber crashing against something and two blaster shots. He felt his arms crash to his sides, elicting a firey pain he hadn't felt since his first true lightsaber fight. His pain was even more so once he crashed face first onto the floor. The lightsaber was a strong silver. He relished in the thought of being saved, but merely concluded that this was a dream. He'd dreamt many times over during his torture sessions, after blacking out of course. His favourite dream, was where the war was over and done with.

He, Dan, Revan, Bastila, Shaleena, Dacen, a petite silver haired woman and Sasha were all on a forest moon, surrounded by thousands of Mandalorians. He felt completly at ease. He remmembered watching what must have been his son, training with the son of Revan, both equal of skill, though James' possessed a higher control of the force. Dan's child was a woman, a woman in the dream that spent a lot of time watching Revan's child and following in his wake. She shared Shaleena's features. James' child looked just like himself, only younger, and with Sasha's intense blue eyes. Towards the end of the dream, he'd feel Sasha's presence behind him, hugging him from behind, before she would grab his hand and begin pulling him to the building behind him, Bastila doing the same to Revan from across the way. It was a relaxing sight, and always left James with a sense of peace after it finished.

_Blink_

He watched as the Sith dropped to the deck without a head, arms or legs. Dan's finishing move. Perhaps this was the most realistic dream he'd had, as of yet. He was turned over carefully, Dan's blurred features looking over him carefully. He nodded over to somebody he couldn't see, and began to felt himself rise. But not of his own accord. He was placed fireman style over somebody's soft shoulder.

_Blink_

They were running down a hallway now. His vision was bouncing around everywhere, not being able to get a fix on anything. It reminded him of a speeder trying to dodge traffic everywhere. He looked down, slowly moving his head and saw the big padded feet on the floor, and a trail of blood. Slowly and carefully he placed a bruised hand at his mouth and felt moisture there. Upon removing his hand and placing it before his blurry eyes, he saw a dark red mixture before he completly blacked out.

* * *

"Hows he gonna be?" Dan asked impatiently for what must have been the seventh time in the last five minutes. He, Kaidon and Zaalbar had been the team that had found James, along with the Sith govenor who just happened to be carrying the Sith launch codes on his person at the time. The doctor just looked over, annoyed but understanding as he spoke slowly, "He was near death when you brought him to me, don't expect anything miraculous."

Sasha bolted upright from where she sat quietly in the corner with her eyes closed, and statled everyone when she called out excitedly, "He's awake!" This caused the doctor to become angry as he slammed his papers down.

_Seems we have a doctor with a sense of honour on our hands_, Dan thought with a mental smirk, however on the outside he was showing complete relief. "Are you callin' me a liar _miss_?" The doctor put emphasis on the fact she was only twenty, and he himself well into his sixties, unless life had dealt him a _really_ bad turn. Dan merely pulled the doctor aside and whispered in his ear, "We're Jedi, so's our friend in there. A powerful one at that. She's linked to him, she knows if he's awake and well enough to move. Trust me." The mans eyes shot up and stayed there from the word Jedi. He stood there for a few moments before looking slyly at Sasha and then motioned over to where James' room was down the hall, "By _linked_, you mean they hooked up a powercable sometime or something like that?" At first, Dan didn't understand, but then realisation dawned on him, and it disgusted him that the doctor would ask that. Instead Dan merely kept quiet and fixed him with a stern glare, causing the doctor to lose all of his previous confidence and shrink back to James' room to unlock it.

At once, James stumbled out of the room, pulling various wires off of him that were no longer needed. After a few seconds of walking down the corridor, he stopped before Dan and hugged him. "Thanks man. I'd have been dead if it weren't for you." James looked serious, and Dan merely smirked, "I could see that. I must say though, you weren't helping yourself in there." Dan chuckled the last bit, and patted James gently on the back, Dan looked down for a microsecond and then raised his head one last time. "Look, Kaidon and Canderous are heading for our ticket outta here in a few minutes. I'll meet you outside the apartment." James looked quizical at that last sentance, "Wont we be a target outside the appartment?" Dan quickly shook his head, "No, the Sith decided that you were more than a handfull on your own, instead they decided that they'd make an example to the Jedi with your death rather than lose more men taking us all. I wish I could have been there mate." Dan replied with a sad smile as he turned around. "May the force be with you." James called out, causing his partner to turn around one final time before leaving saying, "You too old friend. You too."

* * *

Sasha sat there patiently awaiting the moment when James would turn around to her and sweep her up into his arms, a thought that she quickly deemed as impossible due to the Jedi code. She watched intently as he reattached the hilts to his belt that Dan had handed him carefully so as not to recieve unwanted attention. He quickly turned around and pulled her to him.

At the sudden action she let out a small squeal before he brought his lips crashing down onto hers. She allowed a small sqeal of surprise die down in her chest before letting out a content moan. Never before doing this, she had no idea what to do, and apparently, James didn't either. She found that small fact a little reassuring that she wouldn't be noticed much if she fucked up. Draping her arms around his neck she pressed her body against his a little more before she pulled away, panting for breath. Despite her emotions waging a war inside herself, she couldn't help but smile a little. "That was... Unexpected." James merely chuckled before holding her head in his hands, smiling himself.

"I dreamt while I was passed out you know. I saw me, you, Dan, Revan, Bastila and Shaleena. All of us were happy. I saw me and you, we had a son. A strong, powerful and talented son. Revan and Bas as well. Dan and Shaleena had a daughter. We were on some jungle planet, living amid thousands of Mando's. We were happy Shash. We were truley happy, and I think Dan's girl had the hots for Revan's son." James chuckled, kissing her forehead tenderly before Sasha cut in saying,

"I know. I saw it too. It was a peaceful dream, but we were all older. A good ten years at least. I admit, I was more than a little surprised when I saw it, but it was so," She looked as if she were searching for the perfect word when he kissed her quickly but softly again. Now she had the right word, "right." A small cough from behind James made Sasha giggle girlishly as she knew who was stood there, and she quickly broke away from James, blushing heavily.

She watched as James spun around quickly, and then blushed the same colour as herself when he spotted Bastila stood there, leaning against the wall with a horrified and amused expression. "You both know better than to be doing that. You knight's for forces sake! If the master's find out what you both just did, they'd expell you from the order!" She cried out, did Sasha just catch a little jealousy in there? One thing was for sure though. She sure as hell wasn't expecting James' witty comback that earned him a dig in the arm from the woman assembled, "Just 'cause you can't kiss Revan, Ow!" He cried whilst rubbing his arm with a hurt expression on his face. Sasha giggled before meeting Bastila's stern gaze. Not being a woman with a lot to say, Sasha merely dropped her head in embarrassment and eyed an interesting speck of dust on the floor. She heard James step up infront of Bastila, thoroughly annoyed as he spoke, "I've given my life to the order as best I am able! If I have to be expelled from the order because I'm truely happy, then so be it!" He exclaimed as he threw his arms up in the air. Bastila looked shocked at his statement, "James, your twenty-five, and one if not _the_ most powerful and skilled of all the guardians! _What_ would compell you to risk it all? In a few more years, I'd be surprised if they didn't make you a _master_!" Bastila exclaimed in return, looking to Sasha for help. James merely shook his head as he stepped back and looked straight into Sasha's blue eyes saying, "Love Bastila. Love. If Sasha asked me to, I'd go out and conquer the galaxy for her. When Revan get's his memorys back, and he _will_, I'd be surprised if he didn't feel the same about you. Do yourself a favour, and grasp what's infront of you." James said before waving a dissmissive hand in the air, "But enough of this for now. We'll talk more on Dantooine. Come, let's get the others ready."

* * *

"Come on, nows our chance. Let's get the _Hawk _and pick up your friends." Canderous spoke in a gruff whisper as he began walking towards the door at the end of the hallway, Kaidon and Dan close behind. Dan still had his hood over his eyes, casting his face in an endless shadow. Kaidon took up the rear with his two blasters, constantly scanning the area around him for possible dangers. Right outside the corridor door was the throne room. Canderous led them along the right hand wall, towards where he said the pilot was being held due to stealing from Davik.

As Dan reached out in the force, he felt a growing urgency to get to the ship. Something was coming. Quickly bypassing the door codes to the prison cell where the man was being held, Dan used enough of his force powers to blow the door clean off, destroying two torture droids in the process. As Canderous ran into the room, quickly followed by Kaidon as he lowered the containment field, Dan kept guard at the door, lightsaber ignited. One guard had come to find out what all the noise was by the looks of it, and was quickly decapitated as he ran around the corner. As he looked over his shoulder about to call for them to hurry up, the ex-pilot sped past him, almost knocking Dan over. Almost.

Canderous quickly took off yet again and led the way to the hanger, avoiding all the patrol routes he knew existed in the base. Kaidon ran straight up to the computer terminal outside the hanger doors and inputted the codes as Canderous barked them out. As the door swished open, Dan bolted inside, about to make a beeline for the ship when two figures were running for it as well. Both groups stopped dead when they spotted each other. Davik decided to speak up first as he approached calmly with the midget bounty hunter Calo Nord at his side. Honestly, with Davik's pinky-purple armour, and Calo's height, it was all Dan could do from not bursting out laughing. Just as Davik was about to speak, a lood boom emenated from the roof, quickly followed by the roof being blasted off, Davik yelled over the noise,

"Damn those Sith! I knew they'd turn on us sooner or later!" Whilst they were preoccupied, Canderous took the opportunity to attempt to riddle them with blaster bolts. Unfortuanatly, Davik seemed to have a personal shield always running, and therefore the shots merely bounced off. Whilst Calo was attempting to get his gun out, Kaidon and Canderous let loose a constant barrage of blaster bolts his way, forcing the two into cover. As each returned shot came at either Kaidon or Canderous, Dan would bat it away with his lightsaber. Five minutes of repeating this process, another loud boom echoed towards the ceiling and the ensuing bolt engulfed Davik's cover, atomising him. Calo, at least was a little luckier. He got away with just having to deal with the burns recieved by the excess heat given off. As he scrambled up, he pulled out a thermal detonator and held his thumb on the trigger, proclaiming boldly,

"If I'm going down, I'm taking _all_ of you with me. This thermal detonator will blow us all to bits." During his small monologue of a threat, Dan had raised his eyes at the roof and had eyed a bit of scaffholding that was barely holding on. Without moving his arms, he focused on the points that were holding the metal walkway up, and then focused on them all snapping at once. Calo didn't even have a chance to look up. Canderous looked over at Dan and nodded once in respect. "Good job Jedi. Now, let's get on that bucket of bolts and pick up your friends."

* * *

"Dan, _where the fuck are you!"_ James yelled into his comlink. He, Bastila and Sasha were all focusing as hard as they could to create a force barrier above all of their team. Shaleena and Mission were in tears, the wookie was whimpering, Carth was panicking, T3 was beeping loudly and the Jedi were all trying to focus. It's a little difficult. As a single, lucky shot impacted the barrier they had built, both Bastila and Shaleena collapsed due to holding it whilst James contacted Dan. _Great, just fucking great, _James thought bitterly as he raised the comlink to his lips once more. "_Dan, I said, where the fuck are you guy's!_" James yelled once more before a _Dynamic_ class freighter rose defiantly against the turbolasers raining down from orbit. There, cockily stood at the open ramp was a _waving_ Dan. James narrowed his eyes to slits as he used the force to throw T3 into the ship, to which the droid protested by beeing and basically just whinning. The ship neared the walkway, so as to allow all occupants to step in quickly. First, but most reluctantly were Shaleena and Mission who had to be litterally pushed into the frieghter. Next up it was Carth with Bastila over his shoulder and the wookie Zaalbar. Finally, after carefully handing Sasha over to Dan, James was about to step onto the ramp when the walkway below his feet began to crumble. He still had a good meter to jump from a crumbling walkway.

_Oh, fuck!_

That was James' last thought before making a force enhanced leap of faith at the ship. He sailed through the air, defiantly missing each laser bolt as it struck the buildings around him. He landed, but with a thud against the bottom of the ramp. He began to quickly slide off until he was hanging by his fingertips, robes and cloak whipping around his body. And then, he lost his grip and began his fall. He expected to be falling for a long time, instead he was grabbed by the wrist. As he looked up to see his savious face, he saw Dan, leaning over the ramp and barely holding on himself.

He hoiseted James up and into the ship as the ramp began to close and they were off, Ion engines burning the air around them that the turbolasers from orbit hadn't. The two knights just lay there, panting for breath after the events just moments ago. Dan just looked over at James with a grin on his face as he held up both hands, open palmed saying, "That's ten times I've saved your ass now." James quickly corrected him with a slow shake of the head as he fought for breath, "Nine times. That time on Cato Nemoidia doesn't, doesn't count."

Dan merely chuckled before James joined him. Both were brought out of their laughter when Kaidon ran past them, seemingly in a hurry. James quickly stopped him saying, "What's wrong?" Kaidon looked impatient as he began running, calling over his shoulder as he did so, "Sith fighters, six of them! Me and Canderous are on the turrets!" This caused Dan and James to share a worried look as they both bolted for the cockpit. Upon arriving there, James spotted Carth and Bastila at the controls, Carth dodging and weaving whilst Bastila inputted the coordinates of Dantooine into the hyperdrive. James merely shook his head before running over to Bastila shouting over the noise of turrets and explosions outside the cockpit,

"Bastila, move over! Your doing it the _fucking slow way_!" With an annoyed growl, Bastila stepped out of her seat and allowed James to input the coordinates in ten seconds flat. All they needed now was to escape the enemy fire. It was another five minutes until the turbolaser and hull impacts finally ceased, and the swirling view of lightspeed greated them. There was an audiable sigh from each and every crew member on the ship once it was in view.

James merely reclined in his chair, placed his hands behind his head, looked at Bastila and grinned saying, "Now _that_ is how you input coordinates." Bastila growled a response before coming back with her own comment, "Well maybe if you paid as much attention to the _code_ as you did starfighters, then you'd be a master by now, wouldn't you laser brains." At this, Dan burst out laughing, and James found it impossible to form a word. Instead, he merely crossed his arms over his chest and huffed, saying something about _stingy Jedi princess'_. Somehow Carth had heard it and gave out a soft chuckle, to which James joined in. Luckily Bastila hadn't heard it as she was too busy talking to the amnesiac Kaidon about how important Dantooine was and why they would be safe there.

"-powerful masters of the order there. Even malak would think twice before attacking there. It's also a place of spiritual healing, something we could all do with a little of. Mission and Shaleena must be taking it hard." Kaidon was about to reply when James turned around in his seat saying, "Kaidon, why don't you go check on Mission and Dan, you go to Shaleena. It'll do them both some good to talk a little about what's happened."

When both men nodded, James got up out of his seat, grabbed Bastila by the elbow and walked her into the security room, locking the door behind them. Finally, after a minute of pacing, James stopped and spun on Bastila, "Okay, I think I know why you want to go to Dantooine. For one, I think you want to turn me and Sasha into the order. Two, you want to try and get Revan back to who he was as a Jedi, three, you want to spend some time around Revan as he's getting trained." At Bastila's incredulous expression, he held up a hand as she tried to reply, "Cut the bullshit Bas. It radiates from you. All you want, is for Revan to return as a Jedi. The way he was before the Mando wars. Me and Dan have seen the way you look at him, it's the same as I look at Sasha. The force bond I created with Sasha, and you with Revan has nothing to do with these feelings, so when he begins falling for you, which he will again, _don't_ play it off as that. You'll regret it." And with that, James stormed out of the room.

* * *

Dan was currently in the womens quarters of the ship holding a weepins Shaleena in his arms. As Dan sat there in thought, he closed his eyes and delved deep into the force, asking it of the future. The force didn't offer much besides a small vision that worried him deeply.

_They were on a ship of some kind, James was battered and burnt and laying on the floor as a huge durasteel door closed before him as Dan went to his aide. As soon as the door began closing, James bolted to his feet and began limping towards the door, furiously smashing his fists into it, yelling at the top of his voice as tears streamed down his face. _

_**Dan whitnessed the whole thing from a third persons perspective now, and noticed with fear that James' eyes were turning a strong yellow. **_

_"Let me go!" James screamed in a sickly rage, as he fought against the other two Jedi with him as he struggled to get free. "Her sacrifice will mean nothing if we don't get out of here now!" Carth yelled as the two Jedi forced James back down the hallway._

_**The vision fast forwarded for a while, only showing glimpses of events on the Hawk and on a planet until they were stood atop a huge stone temple, watching two figures at the other end weilding a lightsaber each.**_

_Dan walked before James who was marching furiously forward now, the idea of killing burning within his eyes. Dan tried to stop him but he watched as he was thrown into a stone pillar so hard it cracked. He lay there, limp and not moving. He continued to watch as James was flanked by three more Jedi, one with a blue lightsaber in a standard grip, a blue lightsaber in a reverse grip and a green in a standard grip. James pulled out his two blades and charged the two figures, leaving the others in his wake. He made it until he was a mere three meters from them, and as Dan ran to catch up, he reconised the features. Sasha and Bastila, clad in Dark Jedi robes and both weilding a red lightsaber each. Sasha smirked evily as James fell to his knees, his yellow eyes all but dissapearing, and being replaced by tears. As the others ran up behind him, all three let out gasps of surprise and Revan joined James at the floor, tears pouring forth from his eyes as well. _

_**Yet again, the vision fast forwarded and changed to the hanger of a space station. Dan couldn't tell much, other than there were a lot of dead bodies and a gathering of Jedi moving out of the way of two of their comrades. He spotted Revan clade in his old Jedi robes and James in his infamous black robes.**_

_"Anyone gets in our way, they die. Anyone try and stop us, they die. We're getting them back. Malak can go to hell for all that we care right now." James called out to the assembled Jedi as they ignited their equally infamous blades and began walking towards the elevator, Revan stopped just before the doorway and called over his shoulder saying, "Just keep them off our backs and keep the Hawk safe." A firey determination was burning in his eyes, and Dan was honestly afraid. Afraid for anyone that would get in their way. _

_**For what felt like the final time, the vision fast forwarded one last time and showed two rooms, each with a small lightsaber fight going. Sasha was attacking James, and Bastila was attacking Revan. Both were on the defensive. He decided to watch James' battle over Revan's.**_

_James and Sasha were in a stand off, James calling out for her to return to him and their friends, James also no longer held the sickly yellow eyes. His eyes were merely filled with an unbreakable love. Sasha looked pained before her eyes became fierce again. She charged with a powerful cry of rage as she brought her blade down on James. James parried constently, never striking her back. Once the opportunity arose, he disarmed her and sliced her blade in two as he did so. _

_With no lightsaber to defend herself with, she began to retreat until the sound of clattering forced her to stop and turn around. There James was, tears streaming down his face, on his knees, lightsabers infront of him, slowly rolling away. "Strike me down. Prove to me that what I used to feel in our bond no longer exists. Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't love me!" James cried out in pain. Sasha looked cautiously at James, searching for any tricks that he could be hiding. As James noticed her cautiousness, he spoke up again, this time the words brought a smile to Dans face, "I love you Sasha. I always have." When she just stood there, he hld his head in defeat, before she began advancing on him slowly and quietly. _

_She collapsed before him and brought her lips to his, all yellow gone from her eyes. The tears on her cheeks mixing with his own. When they pulled apart, all Dan could see was their love for each other spreading further outwards and eventually filling the room. At the sound of lightsabers switching off in the next room, both Jedi bolted for the door in the other room to find Revan and Bastila in a familiar scene, Bastila wishing Revan luck in his upcoming battle. _

_**The vision swirled and then instantly cut off, the events, surroundings, even the smells felt so real, it worried Dan.**_

_**

* * *

**_**AN:** OOOOOOOO! Maybe a possible outcome of the future, or is that future set in stone? ;)

I got the idea for a force vision of this kind from the novelisation of _The force unleashed II_, that I bought in waterstones two weeks ago. I think it sets a darker tone for the story, and now all readers will hopefully be watching James for tell tale signs of falling to the darkside... and I've had one or two PM's asking to include some more darkside moments for James in this chapter, and I was planning on doing this chapter in this fashion anyways, so 'tis all gooood ;)

Hope you all like the story so far, and are all very much intersested... THIS IS MY LONGEST RUNNING STORY! YAY ME! ^.^

RnR please and you shall alll weild the power of James... ;)

**GO READ DISPLACEMENT IN THE OLD REPUBLIC! BUT ONLY AFTER REVIEWING MY STOREH!** :D


	9. Chapter 8

"Ahh, Dantooine. Feels like a lifetime." James let out a cheery sigh just before Bastila corrected him, "It's only been a few months James." as he stepped off the loading ramp of the _Ebon Hawk_, quickly followed by everyone else, apart from Mission and Shaleena. They stood still at the bottom of the ramp. Mission looked like the floor would eat her, and Shaleena was marveling at the beauty of the four's private landing pad. Dan let out a small chuckle before pulling Shaleena out and into the sun slowly saying, "Come on, it won't bite." She turned red in an instant and looked shy, and James chuckled a little. It was how Sasha was when she was her age. Putting a confidant foot on the floor, Mission boldly walked out of the _Hawk _and began walking off until she stopped, turned around and asked, "Okay, so where are we going?" This caused a few chortles to erupt from Zaalbar and Carth, whilst Bastila stayed close to Kaidon.

It wasn't missed by the two male Jedi accompanying her. When James cast his gaze upon her, she looked shamefully at her feet, before stepping before them all and announcing, "I spoke to the council masters on our way down. They've requested an audience with you Kaidon. You and Shaleena as well, James." At this, James dutifully bowed and led the way towards the council chambers he had visited a few times in the past. 

_Not always for the best of reasons_, he thought to himself with a smirk on his face. In the corridors they passed a multitude of differant species of Jedi, and James noticed Shaleena was staring with her mouth open at the diversity of the order. He spoke up without turning around, "You drop your jaw anymore, and it'll hit the floor." He chuckled, as they entered the courtyard.

James was at the center tree when he heard a young padawan blow a gasket. _It's too fucking early for this_, James seethed within his own mind, making his way over to the young woman. She was in the middle of a small rant at Kaidon and Shaleena both. Kaidon looked angry and Shaleena looked a little frightened and upset. "-you mock the traditions of the Jedi- What!" She popped as James tapped her a few times on the shoulder. At once, she bent over and gave a respectful and polite bow, "I-I'm sorry M-master M-Marek. Excuse me, for being so r-rude. W-was there something y-you wished of me?" She stumbled at the sight of the greatest of the guardians since Revan and Kavar. "I wish for you to have a more open mind padawan. Did you ever think that these are not padawans?" James asked slowly, in a calm voice as he raised an eyebrow. "N-no master, I'm sorry. I should learn to control my emotions." The padawan stumbled, apologising repeatedly whilst bowing to James. He merely rolled his eyes, tapped her on the shoulder again and upon her looking up said, "I'm not the one you should be apologising to." he said as he pointed at the grinning Kaidon and the smiling Shaleena. The padawan, bowing to both of them gave apologies and introduced herself, "My name is Balaya, I'm only a padawan, but I hope we can forget what has just happened?" She asked with a weak smile, hoping for the best. When both nodded, James caught a sigh quietly escape her lips and he smiled himself. Bastila had ignored the whole ordeal and had continued on, and so he motioned for the two of them to follow.

They were rounding the final corner five minutes later before James halted, causing the two to bump into his unmoving form from behind. When both quickly apologised, James spun around, his right arm pointing a finger that went between them, "My old master is in there, and I consider all of them friends and confidants. Make sure that you show them a little respect." James warned, earning gulps from both the prospective students as they followed him into the large room. Bastila was stood by the council members and motioned for Kaidon to go first. James took up position by Zhar, to which his master smiled warmly. Shaleena soon followed, causing Zhars hairless eyebrows to shoot up in question, James merely smiled and gave him a, _tell you later look_.

The whole ordeal with Kaidon, aka Revan took a fair amount of time, all the while having to be dragged on even longer with Vrook's objections. When the padawan and Kaidon both left, it was James' turn to take the stage, he motioned for Shaleena to stand before him, facing the council as he rested his hands on her shoulders.

"Brought this young woman to us you have. Why?" Vandar asked nicely from his hovering chair. James bowed his head in respect to the master that had only drawn his lightsaber five times in his life and then gave his explanation. "Master, when looking for Bastila, I ventured to the undercity of Taris. Upon arriving there a strong force sensitive approached me. All I have sensed since meeting them is just honesty, good intentions and a will to match Dan's. This is the young woman I bring before you now, asking for her to be accepted by the Jedi." James glared daggers at Vrook when he objected saying, "No, she's too old."

For the first time since arriving at the enclave a good hour or two ago, Shaleena spoke up, "Age has nothing to do with it. If I'm willing and capable, then I'm willing and capable." Vrook shot her a look of disgust, at which she returned with a look of determination. He stood, and walked confidently up to her, circling her and James. After a quick inspection, he exclaimed whilst thowing his hands up in the air, "Bah, she has no force potential! I think you hit your head a little in the crash, _knight_." Vrook emphasised his rank within the order and enhanced it with a look that just screamed, _if looks could kill_. James replied in a much more calm demeanor than Vrook did, "I keep my force presence muted at all times. Otherwise I'd shine like a damn beacon. It's possible that I may have also muted Shaleena's. Do you want to see it?" When they all nodded, none of them were ready for the magnitude of the presence.

As James had come to a conclusion about it's strength before, all the other master's did so at this point as well. Vrook, somehow managed to find a way to object. "Her emotions are too powerful. She will not be trained. Besides, who would train her." James, who had been pacing a little came back to his original position behind Shaleena. "I will train the girl then. Zhar's expression beemed, as did his force aura with total happiness and a sense of pride. James smiled over at Zhar and gave a short nod, to which it was graciously returned. "Ready, believe you are?" Asked a concerned Vandar. Vandar was like a second father to both Dan and James, as Zhar was foremost their father figure since joining the order. "Am yes, I. I-I mean, I am yes." James corrected as Vandar grinned a toothy grin, Shaleena covered her mouth from laughing and Zhar let out a hearty chuckle. Dorak simply smiled from his seat and Vrook scowled. "Good to see it is, that rub off on you still, do I." Vandar finished with a sigh and a warm smile. Once he nodded James bowed respectfully and led a confused Shaleena out of the room.

"So, what just happened in there?" she asked with a classical, '_What the hell'_ kind of look on her face. "Well now, now we go and get your padawan robes. Welcome to your first day in the Jedi order." James grinned as Shaleena leapt at him, hugging him around the neck so tightly, he believed his neck was going to snap like a twig.

* * *

"Block. Parry. Attack. Block. Block. Parry. Attack." James repeated, wanting Shaleena to get the basic forms drilled into her head. At first she was sloppy, but over the last week she'd slowly been improving in lightsaber drills. She wasn't anywhere near duel standard yet though. James had given Shaleena a temporary training lightsaber for her studies. James had the time while Revan was relearning his skills to teach Shaleena as best he could. He planned on petitioning for a new master for her when the time came for them to embark on the mission they had been planning for Revan since the beginning. He'd request master Quatra. She was a good teacher, and had just announced to other masters that she'd give Juhani her last lesson before her trials to knighthood.

A dull thump was heard infront of him, bringing him out of his musings. Shaleena had collapsed to her knees, panting wildly and sweating tremendously. "I. Need. To. Rest. I. Doubt. I'll. Have. To. Fight. Continuously. For. Twelve. Hours." She panted between breaths as she shakily got to her feet, only to fall back down again. Feeling guilty about pushing her as hard as he had, he decided to teach her something he considered extremly important to survival in the galaxy.

"Shaleena, I know I've pushed you hard today, but I must ask you to stand and take your forms opening stance." He requested kindly at her, to which she shakily agreed to. As she activated her blade, James noticed that she didn't look completly comfortable. "Okay, squat a little, now hold your blade infront of you with both hands. There, that's it! With that stance, you can easily switch to any form, nobody will suspect which one you will go for, your center of balance is perfect, and most important of all; your comfortable." James educated with a smile.

With a quick wave, he dissmissed her before collapsing against the wall, slowly sliding down. He sensed the presence, but just allowed them to approach. They slide down next to him, porceline features looking concerned. "James, you realise she'll sneak aboard the ship if she had to." Sasha whispered to him, making sure nobody was around as they talked about the future. "I know." He sighed as he leant his head against the wall behind him, "I know."

Sasha looked at him quizzicly before her next question, "Then why petition for a new master for her?" James smiled sadly before responding, "I'm no teacher Sash. I'm a fighter, plain and simple. What you see here," He motioned to himself, "is a far too emotional Jedi." James announced quietly, dodging a slap that was coming his way from his best friend and love of his life. Nothing had happened since Taris and it was starting to piss him off. "How dare you! How would you even know that? I demand you take that back this instance." James looked over at her and saw the hurt in her eyes, he decided to explain. "Dan saw a vision of the future, or at least a possible future. I'm sorry." He hung his head in defeat. He looked up one last time, "Sasha, will you teach Shaleena until I return?" James asked, looking into her fiery eyes, when she nodded, he got up and left the acedemy and walked out onto the plains of Dantooine.

* * *

"So, how's your training goin'?" Dan asked suddenly from behind Shaleena, causing her to squeal in surprise and jump. She spun on a laughing Dan and poked him in the chest playfully, "Stop doing that! You know I can't sense you when you cover yourself! It's not fair. It's cheating." She pouted, crossing her arms below her breasts, where it was comfiest.

Dan laughed a little more before floating a pear over for her to take from her seat as she read a datapad about the history of the Jedi order. Dan decided it was yet another chance to tease her, with a grin he began. "You know, I heard that if you read them and concentrate hard enough, you fry your brain, and you become braindead." He said in a completly serious voice, and a face to match, when Shaleena quickly looked up, panicy, it was all he could do to not laugh and break it. "Really?" She asked, pushing the datapad away from her carefully. As Dan used the force to snatch it, he quickly said, "Naah." to which she growled dangerously.

She stood up from her chair and went over to where Dan was sat opposite her in an effort to retrieve her reading material. Dan merely held it out of her reach as she leant over him. He had to admire the view of course. As he stuck her in a force stasis, He finally relaxed and decided to look at the material. 

_"Romance_? I didn't think the Jedi allowed that genre into the enclaves." He then noticed the title, "The Sith and the Jedi, a tale of love and deciet. Wow, I _really_ don't think this is from the library. James know about this?" When the stasis'd padawan tried replying, Dan removed it's hold over her. With a gasp she fell into his lap. With a small wince after contact with the tenders was made, he breathed normally again. Shaleena stood up, ridgid, blushing furiously and shook her head slowly. With a sigh and a defeated hang of the head, she began walking off. Until Dan called out to her though, with a surprised yelp as she finished turning round after having a datapad tossed to her, Dan walked past and gave her a wink, saying,

"I won't tell him. You don't need to hide anything from us."

* * *

Zhar was currently sealed in his private quarters, meditating after a long day retraining Revan. He had given strict orders not to be disturbed, and spun around at the sound made when somebody spoke to him. "Master, I require guidance." James spoke from the shadows. He'd been there, watching Zhar intently as he meditated.

Zhar instantly lost his surprise and a smile spread about his lips. "James, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Zhar asked, getting up to embrace his old friend and student. James broke away from the embrace and began pacing furiously before the blinds. The shadows made him look sinister. "I feel," He searched for the right word, "_lost_." Zhar's smile instantly left his face and was quickly replaced by worry as he laid a comforting hand on his former pupils broad shoulder, "Lost? What do you mean?"

James began to pace furiously again, but with a renewed vigor. "I'm powerful. I know that much. But I want _more_, and yet, I know I shouldn't." He turned to look Zhar in the eye now, "Master, I want the power to save the ones I love." Zhar looked understandingly at his ex-padawan.

Throughout his and Dan's training, they'd shown far more emotions than any of the other Jedi to walk the walls of the Coruscant temple than any he'd ever known except Revan and Dacen.

As Zhar sat down, he let out a long sigh and placed his forearms on his knees. He looked silently at James for a minute before speaking, "What have you seen?" James looked up slowly from his seat, cloak wrapped around him protectively as shadows cast errie looks upon his face, "Pain. Suffering." He paused a moment, as if fighting the words out, "Death." Zhar nodded slowly, understanding his pain, "Someone very close to you, or just close, but love all the same?" When James trembled a little, Zhar placed a reassuring hand on his knee. James uttered two words under his breath that Zhar almost didn't catch, "Extremly close."

* * *

**AN:** So there we have it, I hope that everyone is enjoying this story as much as I'm having fun writing it! :D

I plan on writing two more books as sequals to this. A KotOR 2 one, where James, Dan, Sasha, Shaleena and another yet to be introduced Jedi joins Dacen Kenobi (Changed it to a dude, cause I preffer an ExileXBrianna romance) and the crew. The third book will be completly AU, but will be about a war that comes to the republic 300 years early, with exiled Jedi knights to lead the charge against an invincible enemy, risking everything, even their children fighting alongside them. I have the rough events already worked out, and I hope that when it comes to writing them, that you'll all enjoy it! :D

RnR! :)


	10. Chapter 9

The council had gathered, about to pass judgement on a redeemed Dark Jedi. The congregation of Master's here on Dantooine was the largest Dan had whitnessed in a long time, causing the force around him to swirl with the anticipation of being used and given a purpose. Stepping forth from the shadows was the Jedi that had saved this particular Dark Jedi, and he looked rough. Stepping forward, slowly, hesitantly, Dan clasped his companions shoulder affectionatly saying in a low whisper, "It's that girl you saved. Go on, take a look."

Taking hesitant steps forward, James whitnessed her knelt before the masters, head hung in shame, hands trembling, tears dripping on the floor. "Emotional, you are." Vandar spoke slowly from his chair. At his kind tone, the woman looked up from her kneeling position and looked him in the eye, "I am. I've never let my emotions control me however."

Dorak came forth this time, and dropped a small holoprojector to the floor, when it lit up, it showed just her groveling at James' feet, begging for her life. With a small gasp, she looked around at the crowd of people, and saw two off to the side, with a third walking over to them.

Shaleena approached James and Dan as best she could, and gave a small bow to them both, "Master, Daniel." She whispered quietly, Dan looked at her with a quizzically raised right eyebrow whilst James held up a hand before whispering and waving dissmissivly, "Enough with the formalities. _Please_." Shaleena was about to respond, when a few knights and padawans shushed them and brought their attention back to the matter at hand, "Now that young James and his _padawan_, have stopped talking, maybe we'll be able to continue. Is that permitted of us, _knight_ Marek?" Atris called out with barely concealed venom in her voice.

When all the assembled Jedi in the room turned to look at him, he blushed a deep red and attempted to hide himself behind Dan, before he called out in a small voice, "Yes master." When a few of the gathered Jedi shared jokes for the next few months to come, it would be of the greatest guardian that the order had seen since Revan, hiding behind his padawan at Atris' scolding. Nobody ever said the Jedi were particulary funny. The proceedings continued into the day with the council taking regular breaks to disscuss the issue before them. It was an even split, half wanted her imprisoned and put on trial, where as the side Vandar and Zhar were on, wanted to offer open arms into the order. They needed one more master to decided the fate of her.

* * *

She barged in with absolutly no regard to the men and woman of varying species and ages, and caused only one or two to jump in surprise. She was red in the face from anger, and had her small hands on her hips. "Do you realise that waiting right out there, is a woman, who was ordered by _Malak_ himself, to kill _us_? Why not strike a deal? Sanctuary, for all the information she has on the Sith. Not to sound rude or anything, _masters_, but don't you think that'd be better than arguing?" After using up all the adrenaline she had used to even walk up to the door, Sasha collapsed in a heap on the floor. Dorak let out a small sigh accompanied by a smile as he lifted her and carried her to her quarters just down from James'. As he lay her on her bed, he whispered, just before exiting the room, "Same old Sasha. That took guts, kid."

* * *

Thunderous applause was let out from the gathered Jedi in the room. So what did it matter that the only ones laughing, clapping, whooping, giggling and whistling were James, Dan, Sasha and Shaleena? It was just as good as a whole audience.

They were currently watching Kaidon, _aka Revan_, was finally his title of Jedi. When Kaidon sent a sneaky wink at Bastila, who he had spent most of his training with, with the occasional combat training from James, who blushed slightly before becoming an emotionless Jedi again. As Kaidon used the force to backflip over to the group, he recived two pecks on the cheeks from Shaleena and Sahsa- something Kaidon saw that caused a stern expression to head his way from James- and two claps on the back from James and Dan.

"Congratulations mate. Your one of us! By the way, there's no pension, and the health scheme sucks." Dan chuckled as he continued congratulating him. They were walking out as a group when James was pulled to the side by a young padawan, only of about eightteen years of age, but strong nevertheless. Her black hair was in one neat ponytail behind her head, that allowed her pale features to shine, drawing attention to her face, and not her body.

James only knew this because Dan had told him as he'd treated him for a fairly heavy concussion after he'd had a _conversation_ with her. "Knight Marek, it's an honour to meet you. My name is padawan Arren Panlie. I believe we have met before, although perhaps not in the best of circumstances." She squeeked out that last little bit, looking down shamefully. James did a little mind reading on himself, and found that he reconised the build and the voice from before. But he was under the impression that the council had imprisoned her, against the wishes of the most popular masters, including his own. "Ahh yes, sorry, I did not reconise you. I hope that the escape from Taris was pleasent?" James chuckled, looking her in the eyes.

She blushed a little before saying, "Yes, it was quite uneventfull, I must say though, I'm much preffering you to myself for now though." She whispered as she slowly approached him. James panicked. You couldn't miss his expression from a mile away, but somehow she had. The only thing in James' mind at this moment was the words, _retreat with style_. He followed those words to the letter as he felt the unforgiving wall behind him, "Erm, I uh, oh force it's Malak!" He exclaimed as he pointed down the hall, and as she looked, fear all over her face, he took off in the opposite direction.

* * *

Mission giggled as the fearless Jedi guardian of the republic bolted it up the _Ebon Hawk's_ loading ramp with fear written all over his face as he now searched for his next piece of escape insperation. As James turned her way, she raised a none existant eyebrow and placed her hands on her small hips, "Whatcha runnin' from?" James tried to look calm but just couldn't manage it.

"Some ex-dark Jedi that wants me up the wall." When Mission burst out laughing, he punched the ramp controls and looked indigiantly at her, exlaiming, "Hey, sod off Mish, completly uncalled for!"

That was when there was a loud crash that eminated from the Cargo hold, quickly followed by a string of curses. As James bolted it in there, he found Canderous pacing slowly, with Sasha looking hard done to. "I'm just saying, you can do better than that stuck up Jedi. Try a _real_ warrior."

Sasha exploaded at that, "Why you self centered, scruffy looking," She paused, looking for the right words, "nerf hearder!" Little did the two know, James had been joined by the rest of the crew that weren't out with Kaidon and Bastila. Canderous came to a stop before Zaalbar who blocked the other doorway by himself. Slowly turning around, he questioned dangerously, "Who's scruffy lookin'?" and then continued out the door until he heard Zaalbar's chuckling, to which he announced loud enough so that everyone heard it and almost burst out laughing from, "Laugh it up, fuzzball."

At being called a fuzzball, Zaalbar tried the equivalent of a wookie pout before Mission went over, gave him a hug and attempted to cheer him up. The crew couldn't take it. They _all_ burst out laughing except for the two that had been in the heated argument. Just then there was a knocking on the ramp, signaling for it to be dropped. Once Carth complied, James spun with such a ferosity that he caused himself to suffer light headedness, "Carth, No- oh, hey Kaidon." James tried to recover as smoothly as possible, it was times when they weren't on potentially planets or ships when he and Dan could really be themselves. Kaidon gave a small nod as he took some componants and what looked like some lightsaber parts into the cargo hold where the workbench was stationed.

Following Kaidon was Bastila, Shaleena, T3M4 and a Cathar Jedi that James reconised from Coruscant. "Hello there Juhani. What's it been? Three or four years?" The Cathar smiled a little at his memory, "Three, in two weeks. It'd be considered a dishonour if I'd forgotten about fighting the famed Jedi Guardian." Juhani replied with a deep bow, James merely chuckled and bowed back, saying, "Believe me, those stories are greatly exaggerated." Juhani smiled again at his humbleness and made her way into the ship.

* * *

Kaidon was walking back towards James who was fidling with his belt, and tapped him on the shoulder gently, "I'm hoping that you and _master_ Newberry will accompany us on this mission?" Kaidon asked, bowing a little and allowed a smirk to slide onto his face, he looked up to see James' left eye twitching a little. "W-what did you just say?" James asked, going ghostly white.

"I said, I hope that you and _master_ Newberry will be joining us on our mission?" And there it was, what Kaidon had been trying to do. James went rigid, and then fell backwards, eyes rolling into his head. Kaidon couldn't help but laugh. He was holding his sides and wiping tears away once Dan ran in. He looked at James, and then instantly at Kaidon with an accusing glare.

Kaidon had to speak through bouts of laughter as he collapsed to the floor and began rolling. He couldn't remember anything that funny ever happening before. "What did you do." Dan deadpanned as he crossed his arms over his chest, Shaleena and Sasha appearing behind behind him. "I only called him by his title." Kaidon managed, standing back up slowly. "What's do you mean? He's been a knight for years." Sasha questioned, narrowing her eyes at him as if he were her prey. Kaidon audiably gulped and instinctivly backed up a bit.

"He- he and Dan were promoted. By order of the council." His eyes never left Sasha's and a dull thump had emenated from her left. As Kaidon looked at the origin of the noise, he burst out laughing again. Dan had passed out as well. The next thing he knew, he was being trapped in a stasis field while Shaleena went and got some cold water.

* * *

Splash.

Cold.

Yell.

"What the fuck!" James yelled as he wiped away the water dripping from his face.

Sasha stood there, innocently batting her eyelashes whilst attempting to hide the bucket behind her back. James growled lowly, narrowing his eyes at her. "Sasha," He said slowly as he stood up, "why don't you just give me that bucket, and we'll forget this ever happened." When she looked up at his rapidly approaching figure, her eyes widened and she darted out of the ship. It took James a second to process her none existance in front of him. The two ran through the enclave like two lovers playing a game. Sasha ran infront, never looking behind her, but laughing all the same. James was litterally just out of arms reach and followed her every step of the way.

After a few minutes of constant sprinting, James decided he'd had enough and used the force to slowly lift her giggling form into the air whilst he came to a stop behind her.

Once he let go of his hold on her, she squealed in surprise and fell straight into his open arms. She could feel his warm and slightly increased breath on her exposed neck, making electric chills run throughout her body. She slowly turned around, and found herself pressed tightly against his own frame. Suddenly, the sound of multiple lightsabers igniting was enough for James to push her behind him and ignite his own. Sasha, never once being surprised, slowly stepped back to where the rest of the enclave were gathering. James slowly replaced his blades on his belt when he spotted Dan next to him, eyes equally wide.

The two slowly, and cautiously approached the circle of masters and watched as they seperated to allow them both to pass. The circle quickly tightened back up again once they were kneeling in the center. The smallest lightsaber lowered first and hovered over Dan's shoulder, "Daniel Newberry, by the power invested in me, by the will of the force, present I do, Daniel Newberry, _master_ of the republic." The green blade then hovered over James' shoulders as with each line it would go over to the other, "James Marek, by the power invested in me, by the will of the force, present I do, _master_ of the republic."

As quickly as it had begun, it ended with the sound of deactivating lightsabers and the lights in the room coming alive with light. A slow clap caused them to turn around as they rose from their knees, wide eyed, they spotted the who enclave of Jedi clapping them in congratulations, but at the front of the whole thing was the crew of the _Ebon Hawk_, whooping and whistling. James then spotted Shaleena and guilt instantly overcame him as he turned to master Vandar behind him, "Master, I wish to petition for Shaleena to be taught by a differant teacher. I'll be leaving soon." James announced with a small headbow, as Vandar chuckled lightly, "Oh ho ho ho, leave without her, you will not. Announced her passion for your tutorlage, she has." Vandar smiled warmly.

He looked over to where Zhar was stood and watched as he walked over to him, held him by the shoulders and looked him in the eye. "Your a greater Jedi than I ever hoped to be. Your a good teacher. May the force be with you." Zhar praised as he turned to leave. A single call from James got him to turn around slowly, a smile still on his lips, "May the force be with you too master." James called as he wrapped the cloak around his body.

Zhar merely smiled before walking out of the door where the Jedi had dispersed from, "Good-bye old friend." And then that was it. James knew that Zhar had a mission to acomplish on Coruscant, so he probably wouldn't see him again until the mission was over. After a few minutes of standing there, alone, he sensed Sasha approaching the empty room. Seconds later, she stood at the entrance to the room, with a smile on her beautiful features.

"Hello _master_." She welcomed as she gave a respectful bow, with a sly smirk. "Don't, just don't." James chuckled as he waved a dissmissive hand at her. "What is it you want?" James asked, as he stepped closer to her. They were seperated now by only a few inches. Inches quickly became nothing once Sasha wrapped herself around him, congratulating him in her own way.

James chuckled softly and broke away reluctantly saying, "You know, you become more and more beautiful as each day goes by." he whispered, she pulled away a little bit at that, and James instantly cursed himself. Shaking her head sadly, Sasha whispered at a barely audiable level, "You know we can't do that. We'd be expelled. I wont see you waste away what you've just been given, for _me_. I'm not worth your future. You and Dan have just been given a great honour. Your both the youngest masters in the history of the _entire_ order. I _wont_ see that go to waste." Sasha began turning around and walking away when she stopped and turned around to look over her shoulder, "We'll see you on the ship, _master Marek_." she announced, with emphasis on the _master_ part.

Once she walked around the corner, James punched the wall closest to him with barely concealed rage at himself. He punched the wall hard enough to leave a good sized hole in it. As he pulled his fist out, he noticed how bloody his hand had become. Using a little of his force powers, he quickly repaired himself.

* * *

"Alright, let's get this hunk of junk up in the air, huh?" Carth announced as he began flipping switches on the console before him, causing lights to either switch on or switch off. James chuckled from next to him as he said, "You know old timer, I'd be able to pilot this myself. You wanna go have a nap?" he finished with a sly smirk on his lips.

Carth's eyes bulged out of their sockets at that. He was only in his early thirties. He was in his prime, not his golden years. "Alright then kid, let's see how you handle this." Carth said with a grunt as he worked the stick, spinning the ship through the atmosphere. The entire interior of the ship would have been thrown around had it not been for the inertia dampeners.

James scoffed lightly as he inputted the coordinates for Tatooine. Just as James pushed foreward on the yoke, Dan walked up behind him, followed shyly by Shaleena, her hair bulled into two short ponytails much the same as Bastila's with the exception of the braids around her forehead and down the sides of her face. Once they were in hyperspace, Dan spoke up, "Found a stowaway." he chuckled, motioning to Shaleena and her personalised Jedi attire.

Her clothes consisted of a pair of dark blue pants, covered up half way up her thighs by a pair of leather boots with cortosis metal plating pn them. Her robe was a sleeveless green garment with a gold trim. The shouler guards protected her as they too shinned with the telltale sparkle of cortosis. Down each of her arms were a pair of metal bands strapped to her biceps. Hanging from her belt was an intricatly crafted staffsaber. Once James took this all in, he stood up as held her hands warmly in his own, a bright smile on his face.

"I see somebody tested you. I'm glad to see that you've come into your own. May I ask, who put you through the padawan trials?" Shaleena beemed brightly as her dark eyes read his face before replying, "Master Newberry did, master." James shifted his eyes a little so he was still focusing on he padwan, but looking at Dan behind her as well.

All he saw was a sneaky wink and a bright smile before he left. "I'm sure he did. Now, hows about we get some food and sleep before we land. I'm sure that there'll be a difficult day before us tomorrow." James announced as he clapped his gloved hands, rubbed them in hunger and began walking down the corridor for his second love.

Food.

* * *

**AN:** Right, I had this thought when I first began writting this, that Shaleena would end up becoming a Jedi Knight and fighting on Alderaan in my third book. Now, wanting to stay as Cannon as possible, I checked out the _Hope_ trailer for _The old republic_, and thought, "If Shaleena had been better rendered, there's no reason why she couldn't have looked like that." And the idea of that Jedi in the trailer being Shaleena was born._ Ta-Da!_ Leave it in a review or a PM, prefferably a review, if you think I'm doing a good job on the romance in the story so far! :)

Oh, and a small reviewer... ;) left a comment saying that she feels she knows the ending now. Well, there will be _large_ developments within the story later on... ;)

Now, about Arren Panlie. It's the name from another Star Wars story, and I'm constantly dropping in referances, just because that story has influenced me in my Star Wars writting in a huge way. I also thought I'd add in a little vulnerable scene for James. Aka... Women he doesn't share a bond with... Remmember, James himself (Characteristics and appearance) are based off of my own, so his weaknesses are my own. (I have a HUGE weakness around women. I become a bumbling fool. -..-) Later on, unfortunatly, the humor will gradually dissapear as the tentions between the characters rise upon drawing closer to Malak.

Looking forward to all of your reviews! ;) RnR

REVIEWS ARE WHAT KEEP ME GOING!


	11. Chapter 10

"Alright people. We need supplies, information and that sorta stuff. So, looks like we're splitting up into a few groups. James, Sasha and Shaleena are group one," Kaidon motioned to the three, "Dan, Bastila and I are group two."

They split off from the rest, "Mission Zaalbar and Canderous are group three." He looked between Carth, T3 and Juhani, "I need you three to look after the ship. Make repairs if you have to." When the two sentiants nodded and T3 beeped, everyone in the groups left the ship, pulling up their hoods if they had them.

After recieving their orders, James, Sasha and Shaleena headed off to the cantina to try and get any information without arousing suspicion. Just as they were headed through the main gate and into anchorhead, James looked back over his shoulder and smirked a little upon spotting Kaidon using the force to avoid paying the tax. Quickly turning around, he caught up with the two women he was traveling with.

* * *

The town of anchorhead looked run down in the best of places. Sand blew in a steady trickle over the buildings, men and women patroling the streets, hoping for a hand out.

Shaleena spoke up first, "I've never believed I'd come to hate something so quickly." she grumbled, leaning against a building and removing her right boot to remove the sand that had entered it. James chuckled a little as he watched on in amusement next to Sasha who was struggling not to burst out into a fit of laughing at the sight. After a few minutes of amusing hopping, Shaleena managed to get her custom boots on and joined the knight and master in their journey through the streets of anchorhead.

After a few minutes of silent walking only interrupted by Shaleena making small comments about the scenery, the group were halted by a middle aged woman who looked desperate. "Please buy this Wraid plate off of me. I've got nobody else to sell it to." Sasha and Shaleena patted themselves down for thier credits but looked guilty upon not finding anything. With a shocked expression, they watched as James produced both of their pouches from the dark recesses of his robes along with his own. From each puch he removed three hundred credits, giving the woman nine hundred in total.

The woman looked shocked at first before recovering her senses enough to speak, "I-its only worth a hundred sir. I-I can't possibly accept this amount." As James replaced the puches on his belt, a small flash of silver escaped his robes and Shaleena and Sasha gave a knowing smile to each other as the woman stumbled yet again. With a mocking glare Sasha spoke to James privatly,

_You did that on purpose you nerf herder!_

_I do not herd nerf's._ He responded calmly, still attaching the pouches.

_Bantha farmer!_ Sasha called with a small giggle when he finally stopped messing with the pouches and faced the amazed woman.

The woman quickly bowed, to which all three returned before she began walking off. Not before she stopped and looked over her shoulder, speaking to all three though, "For what it's worth master Jedi, thank you." and with that, she was gone. James sighed a little as he began walking the streets slowly, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. After a few more minutes of silence, Sasha spoke up, "I love the sand. Can't get enough of it. But if you want the best sand, go to Naboo." she spoke cheerily, eyeing James in particular as he looked at her, "I hate the sand. Its coarse, rough, and it get's _everywhere_." James complained to a knowing Sasha.

Long ago, before the bond, they already knew each other like they knew themselves. James stood stock still as Sasha walked into him, and Shaleena into her, causing small 'oofs' to escape their lips as neither had really been paying attention. "Stop." James said quietly as he closed his eyes thoughtfully. Sasha rounded on him with an evil glare, "A little too late for that don't you think?" she complained, only ever speaking like she did when her bond mate was in close proximity.

She cast a small glance at Shaleena and noticed she had a small smile on her young features. That was before James spoke up anyways. "Six sith. One marauder, two assassins. Three Dark Jedi." James announced, before dropping his cloak and retrieving his blades. He wasn't going to go around and attempt to avoid them. Wasn't in his character. Slowly followed by a cautious Sasha, and a nervous Shaleena, James rounded the corner with the two Jedi in tow, straight into the line of sight of a group of Sith all leaning against various walls or surfaces. One was even medatating.

The marauder stepped up to the group, the rest of the Sith falling in behind him, "Dark Malak will be pleased that we have found you." he hissed, igniting a crimson blade and adapting a Soresu stance, the others follwoing suit. James activated his blades, the two companions doing the same, both getting into the stances they favoured. James adapted a form of Juyo he helped Revan and Kavar create, Sasha entered an Ataru stance, and Shaleena entered the stance that James had shown her. When the Sith snickered, three figures dropped behind the Jedi, causing small explosions of Sand to rise up from the ground beneath their feet.

All three were crouched low to the ground, hoods drawn over their faces as they kept their heads down. The Sith leader let out the evil version of a chuckle, "Ah, Jedi practice showmanship now? Too bad that it won't save you." He hissed. As James looked around him, he noticed the three figures drop their cloaks simultaniously and retireive their personal blades. Dan activated his silver blade and adapted the same stance he took James on with in the fight with Juhani, Bastila switched the activation button on her single hilted yellow blade and rasied her blade abover her head into the Makashi form. Kaidon was last, adapting a reverse grip of his cyan blade, cloak still over his body though, and masking his face from view. The leather gloves he was wearing on each hand, given differant shades as seperate light befell them. His right hand shone a mixture of cyan light, mixed with the sun, whereas his left just reflected the sun.

With a roar, the six Dark Jedi, charged the six Jedi, who began slowly at first, but then slowly began to increase their speed. James went straight for the marauder as he'd be the largest threat. With a small grunt, all six gave a small leap into the air before bringing their blades crashing down on their opponants.

* * *

Bastila brought her saber down hard, and with a startled cry, the Dark Jedi she was attacking lost their hand. As the Sith fell to his knees, he looked up in fear at Bastila's yellow blade, as she was poised to strike. The second that she faultered was a second the Sith had to recover.

The Sith unleashed a mighty storm of lightning towards her, aimed at her chest. The attack was designed as a last ditch attempt to quickly over whelm her and kill her, but she quickly recovered and used her lightsaber to absorb the lightning, causing the electricity to flow up and down the blade in waves before dissipating. What assaulted her after the attack finished was not expected and therefore left an opening that the Sith exploited. A small force push stumbled her backwards and the Sith sent another blast of lightning her way, sending her off her feet and against the wall until Kaidon decapitated the Sith.

* * *

Kaidon brought his blade down in a standard, one handed smash that crippled the Sith's unpreppared defenses and caused him to crash to his knees.

He watched as the Sith attempted to stand up again. He did, if only barely. Kaidon swung his blade in an expert arc as the Dark Jedi hurried to parry it. From Kaidon's calculations, he figured that this was an apprentice, due to his complete lack of skill with a blade that he'd mastered in just a few short months. By many Jedi, Kaidon had been compared to Revan before he fell, and more shockingly, James when he'd carried only one blade, before moving on to two.

As Kaidon parried a pathetic blow aimed to cut him in two at the waist, he spun his blade over the Dark Jedi's and pierced him through the chest. After removing his blade from his fallen foe, the sound of a womans agonising screams reached his ears. He looked towards the sound and witnessed a Dark Jedi attempt to burn Bastila to a crisp using force lightning. Sprinting over to her opponant, he decapitated the Sith before he knew what was upon him.

He then focused on his bond mate who's robes were deeply chared and were falling away a little at the chest, revealing a hint of a lacey black bra beneath it. Quickly averting her gaze to avoid a lecture, he extended an arm and gave her a hand up, accompanied by a flirtacious wink; causing her to blush deeply before diverting her eyes to the battle that was ending before their eyes.

* * *

Shaleena leapt into the air a little higher than the others and performed a gracious half turn flip over her opponant. The two traded slashes and parries for a time, until she began to grow weary under the sun. As far as she could tell, there was still a fairly decent amount of Dark Jedi left. Using everything James, Sasha (and secretly Dan), she looked for openings in the Sith's defenses that she could exploit. If she calculated it correctly, she'd have an opening to use in three more parries.

Not consentrating fully on the battle at hand, as she was attempting to find the best way to defeat her opponant, the Sith had spotted an oppening of her own, and managed to singe her side. As she collapsed to one knee and dropped her staffsaber, the Sith woman plunged her saber towards Shaleena, planning on taking a life. What happened that threw her completly off.

In an instincitive effort to block the lightsaber, Shaleena had raised her hands, and hand began absorbing the blade. After realising what she was doing, she turned her shocked gaxe to one of determination as a fire roared in full flame behind her eyes. With a powerful push she drove the Sith away, summoned her own saber and slashed her across the chest. The smell of cauterised flesh instantly greeted her nasal passageways.

* * *

Dan was the first to kill his opponant. A Sith assassin by the looks of him. Instead of bringing his blade down in a heavy strike, he jumped the smallest jump, feigned a slam, and instead brought his saber under his opponants guard as his blade cut into the shoulder tissue. In one quick move, Dan had removed both arms, both legs and the head of his opponant. His signature finishing move. With a small smirk, he sheathed his blade and watched as Kaidon picked Bastila up, quickly followed by James decapitating his opponant.

* * *

Sasha attacked with a sweep, intending to slash her opponants chest, a move that was parried easily, but forced the Sith backwards. Sasha never gave up on the offensive, and as the Sith tried to sneak in a few attacks of his own, she parried. The Sith sent a slash aimed at her back, to which she parried by swinging her lightsaber around her body in an impressive showoff, and gave one final spin as she plunged her blade into the chest of her opponant. They stood there a moment, looking into each others eyes, until the Sith collapsed before her, eyes closed and at peace. As she looked down at his body, she suddenly felt cold. Looking down at her stomach, she noticed a small dagger sticking out from her torso, blood dripping to the floor below it.

With a small gasp, she fell to the floor as well. She looked up into the sky until everything went black, with only one regret.

* * *

James, in an attempt to quickly dispatch this Sith, brought one blade down, and one blade only.

The attempt had the desiered attempt, as the Sith was unpreppared for the on coming red blade that removed his hands. The marauder dropped to his knees before James, defiance burning in his eyes, with a small amount of satisfaction that he'd helped towards the Jedi's future. A future he couldn't avoid if he struck him down. James stood there for a few seconds, his features showing his inner conflict as he swept his head side to side.

With a fiery determination, James looked the Sith straight in the eye as flicked his wrists and decapitated the defensless Sith. As soon as the head stopped rolling, James collapsed to the floor, fully consious but with a fiery pain in his abdomen. Looking straight up, he spotted Sasha's bleeding form crumpled next to her opponants, a knife sticking out of her.

With an anguished cry, James reached out in a futile attempt to save her, and gave all he could to her, to the point where he blacked out.

* * *

"Well, that was fu-" Kaidon began, but stopped instantly upon viewing Sasha and James on the floor.

Sasha had a knife wound to the lower abdomen, and James' head just hitting the floor. With a mute cry, Kaidon joined Shaleena in tending to her master and bond mate, "If Sasha dies, will he die?" he asked as he turned his head towards Dan, who was standing over Sasha, helping Bastila treat her after they quickly removed the blade. With a silent nod, Dan ran over and checked James' pulse. Slow, but still there. With a small sigh, Dan went back to carry Sasha to the _Ebon Hawk_. Kaidon followed, and unconsious James drapped over his cloaked figure.

_Ohh, we got some explainin' to do_, Kaidon thought glumly. Their first planet, and already a master and a knight were out of it, for possibly the remainder of the trip here. _Shaleena would want to stay with her master as well_, Kaidon thought with a small smile, _Or would that be Dan she'd rather stay with?_ A small chuckle eminated from his throat. Well, it did, until Dan spun around, a scowl on his features. As he stopped, Bastila passed him with a huge grin on her face.

_Fuck_.

* * *

**AN: **okay, so hopefully in this chapter, I presented to you the weakness' of a few characters when in battle. If you never picked up on them, I'll list them below.

Bastila - Unfamiliarity of a large amount of Dark side powers. Being bonded to Kaidon doesn't really help things either.

Kaidon - Bastila and strong emotions.

James - His darker side and Sasha.

Sasha - Carelessness at times.

Shaleena - Doesn't focus enough. It _will_ change over time. Trust me. Soon to be Dan.

Dan - A little too confident in his abilities. Soon to be Shaleena.

**RnR! :D**


	12. Chapter 11

"What the _hell_ happened to these two?" Carth demanded as Kaidon carried an unconcious James into the medical room on the _Ebon Hawk_.

Kaidon grinned a little at the thought of the six of them getting into a scrap with some Dark Jedi. Kaidon turned around a little after placing James on the bed opposite his bond mate. "We, uh entered agressive negotiations." He replied, rubbing the back of his neck with a gloved hand. Carth looked dumbstruck as he checked on Sasha's comatose form. "Agressive negotiations? What's that?" He asked, looking Kaidon in the eyes. Kaidon chuckled a little as he replied, leaning against the bulkhead, "Negotiations, with a lightsaber." Kaidon watched Carth for a reaction, and smiled triumphantly when he smacked his hand onto his forehead, slowly dragging it down until it fell off his chin and he leant against the cot, an annoyed expression upon his face.

After a few silent minutes, he slowly turned his head towards the newly instated Jedi, "This is supposed to be a mission, where we try _not_ to bring attention to ourselves." Carth sighed, Kaidon looked hard done to as he attempted to reply, "I -but- we- they attacked _us!_" he finally managed after a few minutes of incoherant spluttering.

"Who's _they_, exactly?" Carth asked, never once breaking eye contact with the bumbling Jedi, "Six Dark Jedi. Sasha and Shaleena were wounded, and when Sasha lost conciousness, so did James." He said, recounting the memory of his friends injuries. With a short nod, Carth motioned for Kaidon to leave the room and to head back out and onto Tatooine for the day.

* * *

"You know, I honestly feel like James is giving up who he used to be half the time. I honestly think he's changing." Dan said unhappily as he conversed with Shaleena after patching her up.

Shaleena tilted her head slightly to the left, and a small frown came forth slowly, "What did he used to be like?" She asked, genuinally curious.

Dan let out a small sigh from his dry lips as he ran a hand through his long hair, "Laid back, sarcastic, passionate, funny," he paused for a second, looking her in the eye, "cheerful." Shaleena frowned further at this, "But he's always cracking jokes and lightening the mood." Dan shook his head slowly side to side as he looked down a little, "Nah, that's all just an act. I've known him for as long as I can remember. _Literally_. When he's down, he'll mask his emotions with cheerfulness. He's been like it ever since the operation on Revan's flagship."

Shaleena nodded slowly as she searched her memory for the recent history in the galaxy from her days on Dantooine, "The one where they carried his corpse out of the ship?" When Dan nodded, she asked a few more questions, "Did James know Revan before his fall? Were they friends? I heard that James once beat Revan in a lightsaber duel, is that true?"

Dan let out a sad chuckle as the memories from their padawan days returned to him in full force, "Yes, they were friends. Best friends, all of us were." Shaleena's eyes bulged but he continued, "We were our own little group. Revan, James, Sasha, Bastila and I. Alek stuck to being around Revan, but none of us could stand him. And pretty much everything you hear about mine and James' exploits in the war are true. We pretty much just wing it, most of the time. But, your lucky. You've seen James in action multiple times, and come out unscathed. Did you know, that on Taris, James repeatedly let his anger get the better of him?"He asked before continuing by repeating a line that one of Revan's many teachers had spoken, "It's such a quiet thing to fall. To be united by hatred is a," he paused, searching for the correct word whilst Shaleena listened intently, "_fragile_ alliance at best. I fear he's already began to fall. If he doesn't fall, then he'll do something stupid-_er_." Dan laughed ruefully as he finished as he leant against the bulkhead slowly, bringing his hands to his face.

Shaleena slowly spoke, "If James falls, will I?" she asked, he voice shakey due to fear. When Dan slowly shook his head, she let out a small sigh of relief and sat back a little. "If he does fall, and I doubt he will, what would the council do? I doubt they'd have anyone good enough to capture him." Shaleena asked, Dan held up a hand to stop any more questions coming forth before he could answer. When he did, he pulled his lightsaber out and began fidling with the immaculate casing, "I've been given the task to bring him to justice if all else fails. If he falls," Dan paused, visably shaking as he looked up with tears in his eyes, "if he falls, I have to kill my best friend." Shaleena instantly went to his side and embraced him in much the same way he had with her when he comforted her after the destruction of Taris.

As time went on, he silently wept into the cloak covering her shoulder and eventually fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

_"Good. Hence forth, you shall be known as Darth - Novas." Malak announced to the figure on the floor. The kneeling figure looked up with a look of pain on his face, "I will do, anything you ask. Just let me save my friends. _Master_." The Sith lord grinned as much as he was able to with his none existant jaw. "All in due time, my eager apprentice. Now go, and destroy Revan. This shall give you all the power you need to save _her_." Malak stressed that final word as the figure rose from his kneeling posistion, "Do what must be done Lord Novas. Do not hesitate, show no mercy." He announced coldly as Novas began exiting the room, black cloak flowing freely behind him as he left for the hangar._

_

* * *

_

**The scene showed a completly metal room, and a figure medatating in the middle of it. The figure never moved once upon the giant doors quickly parting and allowing four Jedi to enter the room. All Jedi activated their blades upon seeing the figures presence. The figure didn't even move. After about a minute of standing there, waiting for something to happen, the figure slowly began to rise, hood drawn over his head. He slowly turned around, a warm smile on his face, yellow eyes announcing his fall to the darkside. All four of the Jedi began to back away in caution. The man and woman on the left quickly departed through the doorway to thier right, heading straight for his master. The two remaining Jedi stood there defiantly, silver and blue light coming together, as one. The figure pulled back his hood as he slowly walked in a circle, the other two always the opposite end of it. Upon reaching his start point, he stopped, pain and anger etched onto his untainted face. In a rage, he extended one arm and looked at the male before him, yelling in an uncontrolled rage.**

**

* * *

**_"You turned her against me!" He screamed as he held her there, slowly choacking her in his blind, feral rage. With a gasp, the woman fell and the woman opposite Darth Novas turned to move her and herself out of the fight. Both Sith and Jedi dropped their cloaks as they began circling yet again, this time the Jedi spoke up, "You have done that yourself. You allowed your views to be controlled. Come with us, to democracy! Be the one we knew you to be!" The Jedi knelt down besides the two woman and checked the unconcious ones neck for a sign of a pulse. The Sith turned his back to the three huddled Jedi and spoke confidantly, brown hair blowing in the artificial breeze of the Star Forge. "I'm more powerful than Malak. I can overthrow him. I shall bring peace to my empire!" The Jedi slowly got up and started forward, unclipping his lightsaber that he had sheathed to check his comrade, "Your new empire? If your truly belive that, then my friend is dead!" he roared back. The Sith still had his back towards him now and spoke slowly and dangerously as he unclipped a lightsaber of his own. "If your not with me, then your my enemy." The Jedi activated his silver blade again and got into a ready stance as he spoke his next line, "I will do as I have to, _James_." With a roar, Novas jumped backwards iginiting a purple blade, flipping and twisting his body so he landed facing Dan. Before he even landed, they had both traded three blows each, but James was pressing the attack, using sheer rage to fuel his movements._

_

* * *

_

**As the fight began, the sounds of a screaming child were heard as another vision began, showing a proud father sitting next to an exhausted wife on a jungle planet, surrounded by Mandolorians. In the room was a congregation of Jedi, all exiled for either their affiliations or their pasts. In the fathers arms was a healthy baby boy with electric blue eyes, just like his mothers. As the father held the child in his lap, the baby reached out slowly; almost deliberatly and touched the hilt of one of his fathers lightsabers on his hip. The father reached out with his right hand that was encased in a leather gauntlet that let off almost inaudiable sounds of machinery operating. As the father stretched out his forfinger, the infant gripped it with a vice-like grip. The father slowly looked up to reveal the features of an ex-Sith Lord and ex-Jedi Master, grinning ear to ear like a small child in a candy store.**

**

* * *

**James woke with a yell and fell off the cot he was lying on. As he connected with the harsh grating on the floor, he let out a painful grunt as he heard the distinctive pop of his shoulder dislocating.

As he groggily stood up, using the wall to aid him, he gripped his arm and with a painful hiss, popped it back into the socket. As James slowly began walking out of the medical bay, he spotted two small changes instantly. Okay, so one wasn't particularly small.

There were two new crew members. One was a droid, the other an old Jedi by the looks of him. From where he stood, watching the scene in the main hold unfold before his eyes, he noticed something that had escaped his gaze beforehand. They were all wearing Dark Jedi robes, all personalised however.

He watched Shaleena cautiously as she passed before him, not even noticing him as she carried a drinks tray to the middle, where everyone helped themselves. After roughly a minute or two of merely observing, Kaidon spoke loudly but humourously, "You just going to stand there and stare James?" he chuckled as he sipped his drink and cautiously put his arm around Bastila in a way that she wouldn't notice. To James' amusement, she did and she therefore edged away a little, causing Kaidon to go red with embarrasment.

As he looked around, he spotted two people of the team missing, fearing the worst James spoke up as he sat down between Kaidon and Bastila. Bastila smiled gratefully, whereas Kaidon muttered, "Cockblock." As he sat down, folding his cloak around him, he looked at everyone, "Where's Dan and Sasha." no sooner had he spoken those words, than he felt a feeling of pleasure come from Sasha's end of the bond.

With flashing yellow eyes, if only for a second, he spun around at the sounds of booted feet walking down the corridor towards them. There the two walked, both looking slightly disshelved.

James didn't wait for an explanation. Instead, he walked right up to Dan and gave him the strongest right hook he'd ever done. Instantly, Dan was on the floor and James' eyes shone yellow, a stark contrast to the dimly lit corridors of the small freighter.

As he looked down, going to his knees ready to deliver another blow, he spotted Dan spit out a fair amount of blood to the side as he stared defiantly into his friends eyes, never even trying to defend himself. James punched him two more times before Kaidon made it to him and pulled a shouting James away from him, "You son of a bitch! How could you! I thought we were friends!" he snaled, Dan didn't say a word, instead just looked fairly confused as he spat out more blood and massaged his jaw.

Sasha just stood there, tears in her eyes as the rest of the crew were in a silent shock. The only other person to speak up besides James was a huge red doid,

Happy observation: Oh _goody_, violence.

Pleading question: May I join in master, _please_?

Kaidon merely used the force to flip his concealed power switch and continued pulling a struggling James back to the medical bay to sedate him. After the two had disappeared, an old, darkly skinned man spoke up in a gruff voice, "Hrumph, thought the lad was supposed to be friends with him. Does he know niether of them left his side?" he asked, eyeing Bastila and Shaleena in particular. When the two women shook their heads slowly, mouths still agape as they still showed their shared expressions of shock, the man shook his head sadly and went off into his quarters to sleep.

* * *

Kaidon backhanded James across the face to attempt to bring him to his senses again. After a few more hits, James finally responded, "Stop slapping me or I'll break your fucking legs." James growled as he shot Kaidon a dirty glare.

Kaidon growled himself, quickly angered at his friends display of anger and jealousy before them all, "Your a fool if you think either of them did anything! The two of them have refused to step foot outside of this ship ever since Tatooine! And now, we're a day away from finding our third star map! If you _really_ want to lose the two, the Sith academy is just through Dreshdea." Kaidon spat as he stormed out. Kaidon's outburst sobered him up right away. All sense of anger, pain, hurt, guilt and jealousy were gone within a heartbeat. After half an hour of still lying there, restrained, he reached out with his mind and spoke softly through the bond that he'd unwittingly strengthened by his attempt to save Sasha's life once again.

_Can you let me out now? I want to see Dan. _He winced at the pain in her voice, and could almost feel her tears as they slid down her cheeks in her quarters.

_How could you! What were you even thinking? _She practically screamed at him, hurt laced deep within all her words.

_I-I don't know. I- I acted without thinking. I let assumptions control my emotions. I-I felt pleasure through your end of the bond, and I saw the two of you walk out looking like you'd just-_ He stopped there, not bringing himself to finish the sentance. Sasha's hurt only increased as she replied.

_Then you do no know me James Marek! You know that Dan is like the brother I never had, and you know that he's your best friend. The two of us never left your side for three months while you were in your coma, and the minute you see Dan, you attack him. Your not the Jedi I fell in love with. If anything, your becoming a man I can't bring myself to look at. _And with that, she closed her side of the link, and James lay there in a deep medatation, never moving for the next day and a half. The line of tears never once drying up either. He was becoming a broken man, and felt himself slipping a little as his counter-balance left him.

* * *

**AN:** Oooo, I skipped quite a bit of the story, because I wanted the readers (you guys) to realise just _how much_ James had given to Sasha in order to preserve her life. This is the chapter before the Leviathan, and lucky for you guys, it will be maybe one or two chapters. Possibly three depending on how I decide to do it. I'm tempted to do a chapter on the capture, one on the interrorgations, and another on the escape.

RnR! :)


	13. Chapter 12  READ THE AN!

"They got us locked in a tractor beam!" Carth yelled over the insitant cries of the warning claxtons, causing red lights to flash all over the interior of the cockpit. Kaidon, looking panicked, stood behind Dan as the co-pilot punched the controls in frustration. "Now we gotta come up with a plan, get everyone in the main hold." Kaidon ordered as he licked his lips where he could still taste Bastila's.

He looked sideways and watched as she led Dan out to go and gather everyone. "Carth, you come too, we aint' going anywhere." Kaidon sighed, as he too hurried out of the room and down the hallway. When he got there, he saw Sasha and Shaleena stood outside the locked medical room door, both looking worried. When they saw him arrive, they both spoke at the same time, "Should we let him out?" He thought about this for a few seconds before confidantly declining, with sound reasoning, "He knows. Some part of me is thinking he's planning his escape now, as much as I hate to say it, I think he's going to give himself to the Sith." When he saw their expressions of confusion, he smiled sadly to himself before Sasha spoke up, "Why would he do that?" Kaidon's reply was instantanious, "One of two reasons. The first would be that he'd be switching sides, the other would be to save us. A fair trade off; a war hero and the greatest Jedi guardian to live since Revan fell, executed live before the republic. It'd cause hundreds of planets to flock into the Sith empire. A sound tactic, if not a little _Revanish_." He pondered as he cupped his chin with his hand, speaking more to himself than anybody else. As he swiftly spun around and walked back into the main hold, he looked around at the gathered faces of determination and confidence.

With a sound nod, he decided to get right down to it. "Okay, it's most likely that me, Dan, Bastila, James and Carth will be held seperate from the rest of you. Now, we need a volunteer to spring us." When three people's hands shot up, he raised both eyebrows in due to their eagerness. The three people in question were; Canderous, Mission and Shaleena. With a firm nod, he came to a decision on a tactical level he didn't realise he could achieve before. "Mission, allow the guards to take you into custody, then get yourself put into your own cell. Break out, then make your way to us. Canderous, just do whatever the hell you think's best." Kaidon smirked at Canderous as he primed his weapons, "Shaleena, I want you to go into a stealth field generator and cloak yourself in the force as well, just incase they have any Dark Jedi with them. You know what to do from there." With a confidant nod, all three went off to go and get ready. The other's sighed a little and got ready for their upcoming incarceration.

* * *

When he made sure that nobody was around, he approached Bastila in her private quarters and knelt down before her as he held her delicate face between his gloved hands. "Bastila, incase the plan fails, I just want you to know, that I've been slowly dieing since I laid eyes on you. I've been in agony from the day I met you. Your my fire, my counter-weight. I'm haunted by the kiss that you should never have given me. If your suffering as much as I am, _please _tell me." He was millimeter's from her face now, and he could see the pain in her eyes as he spoke those words, and also the sadness burning like a brilliant fire in those silver eyes. Eventually, she found her voice enough to speak, "I- we, we can't." she pulled away quickly and walked out of the room, shoulders dropped in defeat. With a small sigh, Kaidon stood up and left as well. The ship was coming in for a forced landing into the _Leviathan's _main hanger bay.

_This is where the fun begin's._

_

* * *

_The interior of the whole ship shook and caused most of the crew to go flying into each other or get up close and personal with the floor. Luckily, that never happened to Shaleena, but she did end up falling into Dan's lap and blushed deeply as he did so as well.

After Dan stood up, causing Shaleena to drop to the plates of the ship as well, he spun her around quickly, and much to her surprise and delight, embraced her in a passionate kiss. Despite the tension throughout the entire ship, everyone apart from the droids and Canderous whooped and wolf whistled. The laughter and congratulations died down enough for her to hear Dan clearly as they pulled away, "There's more where that came from, _only_ if you come get us." And with a cheeky wink, Dan went off to talk about last minute preperations with Kaidon and Carth. What disturbed Shaleena the most was the trio repeatedly glanced at James' 'holding cell' and would whisper lowly to each other.

With a smile still on her face, she went and hid herself in one of the many smuggling compartments in the cargo hold, making sure all her gear was with her. Since her first battle, Dan had repeatedly remarked that she fought with the skill and grace of a knight. He also admitted that if she were to keep it up, then she'd be appointed a knight in no time. As she looked down one final time before sliding the hatch over her, she looked down and looked in admiration at the lightsaber she had crafted. Attached to her belt was a double bladed lightsaber with a unique blade.

The colour of the blade was blue, but had a silver core, giving it an almost regal look. As she reached out and grabbed hold of the plate, she allowed her thoughts to travel to her master as she worried deeply about him. She allowed her thoughts to continue for a few more hours as the ship landed, was searched and patrolled, always remembering to keep herself enveloped within the force, making herself invisable.

* * *

"Ahh, so what do we have here? Four Jedi war hero's and republic war hero. You know Carth, the years have not been kind to you, I almost didn't reconise you." Karath taunted as he strode into the room confiantly. Everyone was standing besides James who hadn't spoken a word since the attack on Dan. He sat there in the lotus position in the center of his torture cell calmly breathing in and out whilst he had his eyes closed. The other four were pacing as best they could whilst clad in their underware, Bastila especially as she kept on catching Kaidon grinning and winking at her micheviously. C

arth fumed from where he was stood, threatening Karath as best he could from where he was contained, "You bombed my planet and killed my wife. For that, I swear I'll kill you Saul." he growled dangerously. Karath chuckled heartily as he placed his hands behind his back comfortably as he paced back and forth before them.

Eventually he spoke up, looking all four of the five prisoners in the eyes, one at a time, "Let's begin the interrorgations. Activate the torture field, but keep it on a low enough setting that their still concious." he grinned manicly as he watched the dazzle of lights flash before him. As one, all five prisoners collapsed to the floor, convulsed and screamed until their throats were raw.

* * *

**AN:** Okay, so unfortunatly, it's a despicably short chapter -**ENTER SAD FACE HERE**-, but here we begin to view the torture that the guys are gonna be put under. Next chapter will continue up to the point where they face Karath on the bridge. The chapter after that will go on up until the _Hawk_ enters lightspeed... hope you like the idea's being put forth in the story so far, and I promise you, you shall _not_ be disapointed with the Star Forge chapters! :D

I'm even tempted to have Dan lead the squadren of Jedi Knights in starfighter's, because as you'll find out in the next two books, James and Dan are amazing pilots! :D

(Both on a level of Anakin Skywalker, just incase you wanted to know _just how good they really are_! ;P)

**SMALL RANT: **I've noticed, that despite the amount of hits this story is recieving (more than my others by a loooong way), that I'm recieving next to no reviews. So far, I've had one review that's not been from somebody that I've asked to review. I don't mean to go on, but for this website, despite how much people love writing their stories, reviews are what keep us all going, and I feel like shit, knowing that other authors that have put less effort into their stories than this (by that I mean the forgotten stories... God I hate those too...) are recieving way more reviews than mine. Personally, I believe that people are being slightly predujist (or however you spell the damn thing... -..-) to my pen name. To anyone who is thinking that, I merely put my penname as that, because it's my gamertag and I have a few friends on here that I speak to from Xbox Live. All we as writers ask for, is to have all differances and views aside and focus on the important things that are the stories we are giving to you. Leave a review, even if it's only saying 'good work' or if it's constructive critisim... Nobody likes the dickheads that just _hate_ on your stories.

Reviews give us the confirmation that people are reading and enjoying the story. It also gives us the push we sometimes need to carry on.

**RnR!**


	14. Chapter 13

"Switch it off, we don't want them to pass out before we can get some information, do we? Karath asked in a cold voice, his accent already grating on Dan's nerves. Karath turned to look Dan straight in the eye as he spoke next, "Ahh, _master_ Newberry I believe it is now, is it not?" Karath asked, and when he did not get a reply, he continued, "I heard from an informant of mine, that you and _master _Marek's padawan have developed feelings for one another?" Dan snarled at that, attempting to leap at him, only to be blasted back by the ray shielding.

Once he stood up, he growled lowly as he spoke, fists clenching and unclenching as he did so, "How do you know about that?" Karath merely chuckled as he began pacing back and forth before them, "There are many Sith informants on the planets you have recently visited, it also helped that she never once stopped talking about you, or her _master_." At the news, Dan's chest internally grew in the comfortable knowledge that Shaleena had liked him as much as he had her, but on the outside he shook with barely controlled rage.

He was just about to use the force to put the Admiral out of commission, when James spoke up for the first time,

"Don't do it Dan. Don't turn out like me." he said quietly before hanging his head in shame.

* * *

Shaleena cut down yet another Sith in her way to the detention block, the stench of cauterised flesh engulfing the room like a Tsunami.

As she proceeded to the next door, she heard voices on the other side of it, and the sounds of screaming from within. She winced upon hearing Dan's voice once all the others had calmed down. Every so often, the screams would resume and then die down again. She stood there, listening for a good hour or so until the sound of boots approached the other side of the door. She panicked before remembering the stealth field generator at her waist. Quickly punching the main button, she became invisable just before the door opened, revealing Saul Karath himself with a smug expression plastered on his ageing features.

Quickly moving into the room beyond before the doors sealed themselves yet again, she deactivated her stealth field to the suprise of all the occupants of the room. In their cages were four very weak Jedi, and Carth. She ran over to the right wall and furiously tapped on the differant buttons of the keypad before the ray shields finally relinquished their tormenting hold on their occupants. Carth stumbled out and nearly collapsed, followed by all but James and Kaidon, who were both lying on their sides, unmoving.

She rushed to Kaidon and turned his body onto his back, and used the force to begin healing his taxed body. Eventually, he bolted upright with a loud gasp, coughing up a little blood as he did so. Once Bastila saw him, she burst into tears, making her way over to his fragile form as he lay there.

* * *

He raised a weak hand to carress the face of his bond mate with the back of his hand, slowly.

She clenched her eyes tight and held his hand to her cheek, small tears escaping her tightly closed eyes. His voice sounded hoarse and painful, even to his own ears. He couldn't remember a time when he'd been in so much pain, "Shh," he soothed, "I'm fine. The plan worked perfectly. I-I wasn't about to see you tortured at my expense. I-It's good to know your alright." he smiled weakly as Bastila covered her mouth as she failed to defend against the few tears that streaked down her cheeks slowly.

Before he could comfort her, she pressed her lips tightly against his and he felt all the love and passion she held for him, released in that tender but powerful kiss. The kiss lasted what felt like a lifetime, and when the two finally pulled apart, Kaidon felt a fresh wave of power and strength pulse through him, and stangely enough, his connection to the force felt that much more powerful. As he slowly and shakily arose from the duristeel panneling, he scanned the room, looking at the others that had joined them.

Most were huddled around James' unmoving figure as somebody tended to him. Quickly pushing his way to the front, he dropped down next to Sasha who was silently weeping into her hands.

* * *

"You have to do this! Don't leave us!" She paused a second, drawing in a ragged breath, "Don't leave me." she whispered to him as she bent over his chest, the rise and fall of it slowing down slightly.

"No point." He wheezed, coughing up a little bit of blood as he did so. Despite the redness of his torso where the electricity had struck him, he was physically unharmed externally. Internally was a whole differant story, one that she'd rather not think about. She watched in muted horror as his eyes searched the gathered faces and came to stop on one in particular who he asked to come forth. As the figure dropped beside him, he wheezed out between breaths, "I-I'm sorry. I-I should have thought before my actions. You'll make the best Jedi the order will ever know. Your the brother I never had Dan." With a final pat on the arm, Dan's eyes began tearing up.

Slowly, he turned back to face Sasha as she wept into her hands, "Sash, from the day I met you, I fell in love. When I saw you on the _Leviathan_ nearly dead, I made a bond, strengthened by my love for you. I-I wish we had a chance. I love you." James wheezed out before his breathing became shallow, and as the darkness consumed his vision like a hungry animal, he spotted Kaidon slump down next to her, quickly followed by the rest of the Jedi as they all poured the force into his body. With his final breath, he whispered two words that nobody noticed, "Don't Revan."

* * *

Shaleena stood there at the back, watching in horror as her master began to pass into the force in unbareable pain. She was brutally shoved aside in Kaidon's rush to get to him, quickly followed by Bastila.

With a small motion from Kaidon, all the Jedi of the crew dropped to their knees, hands extended over James' now still form, as they each poured all their force powers into his system, healing the damage internally. It was a technique often used right after a battle, but not on such a large and powerful scale. It was also a technique taught to all younglings before being accepted into the Jedi Order.

As she concentrated, she quickly glanced at Dan next to her and watched as the tears rolled freely down his red cheeks to drip onto the still warm flesh of his best friend.

* * *

"Ahh!" James yelled as he sat upright, bare upperbody heaving with the recent events. As he looked around, he spotted nothing changing since he 'died'. Everyone was still there, some not even dressed. With a quick pat down of his body, he checked that every last thing was there, all in the correct position as well. With a relieved sigh, James slowly and unsteadily rose to his feet, only to be tackled by Sasha, who quickly and repeatedly kissed him with as much passion and love as she could contain within her.

With a huge grin, James broke away reluctantly and held her soft features in his hands. Before he could say anything, he was sweeped off his feet and put into a headlock as his captor rubbed his fist into his hair in a playfull manner. With a chuckle James broke away until he bumped into the person behind him. As he spun around, he quickly spoke, "Kaidon, we need to talk. It's important." Kaidon looked serious as he threw James his gear and replied, "We'll talk once we're out of here. For now, let's just focus on the rest of the plan."

With a firm nod, James began gearing up, along with the other prisoners he'd been with. It took him mere seconds to place his robes over his head and on his legs. The belt, boots and gloves were a little more tricky though. Throughout the entire ordeal of becoming modest, he repeatedly stole glances at Sasha, who was also doing the same. With a smirk, he watched her struggle to pull on her pants as they were naturally supposed to be a tight fit. The top robe was a bit of a let down in his opinion, as he sighed in defeat when her torso was covered in her personal tight outfit.

With a small grunt, James pushed up from his crouching prostion and used the force to retrieve his lightsabers. As he looked about, he saw everyone checking their gear, preparing themselves mentally and pysically for the upcoming battle. He looked at Kaidon specifically and spoke up, "So, who's doing what?" he asked, watching as Kaidon surveyed those all around him. "Shaleena and Sasha, take everyone to the _Hawk_. James, Carth, Bastila, Dan and I will disable the tractor beam on the bridge." With nods, and surprisingly few objections, the crew dispersed into their teams.

James and Dan were to lead, with Carth in the middle with Kaidon and Bastila taking up a rear guard. As they moved through the surprisingly empty hallways, they never once stopped to check the rooms, preffering speed over a fight. After multiple small skirmishes, and the odd elevator ride, the elevator they were currently residing in came to an unfortunate halt. They all stood around impatiently as Carth attempted to contact HK-47 and T3-M4. "HK, T3 come in. We need the elevator moving, think either of you could sort it out? We're in elevator 23314." With a beep, that everyone assumed was from T3, the elevator began moving again much to everyone's comfort.

This elevator ride was the last one that would ultimatly leave them in the single corridor before the bridge. As James looked behind him, he watched Carth check both of his blaster pistols as he spoke in a low growl, "You guys can have whoever you want, but Saul _is _mine. Nobody get in my way." When there was a simultanious nod from the assembled Jedi, the doors whoosed open to reveal a small squad of Sith troopers and Sith war droids stood there, blaster's aimed right at them. "Hands up Jedi." The lead Sith officer said in a low growl, priming his weapon as he did so.

Reluctantly, all of the assembled occupants of the elevator rose their arms into the air as they were searched and removed of any weapons.

* * *

They were marched uncerimoniously into the bridge where Karath stood with a smirk on his wrinkled features with his arms clasped behind his back. "Ah, Generals Newberry and Marek. Good to see you. I see you brought some friends. Commander Shan and Captain Onasi. Oh, and how could I be so rude and forget knight _Kaidon Invierie_?" Karath taunted to the group.

As the four Jedi were relieved of their weapons, Karath held them before him, examining them in great detail before clipping them onto his belt, "I believe your lightsaber's shall make fine additions to Malak's collection." Dan spoke up next dangerously, "Not today, and you won't escape. James, now!" As he yelled to James, Dan spun around on the spot and sent all the lightsabers on Karath's belt to go flying towards their owners as James simultaniously let forth with a force wave that he'd been building throughout the entire exchange. "Kill them!" Karath yelled over the sounds of five lightsabers igniting in their own brilliant colours whilst Carth's blaster's took out the enemies closest to them.

Dan broke left whilst James went to the right, swinging his lightsabers around whilst decapitating Sith and droids as they hurried to bring their weapons around. Dan merely charged, saber swinging in deadly arcs of silver light. Limbs; droid or otherwise all fell to the floor smouldering at the point of contact with a lightsaber. Kaidon and Bastila were behind them, dealing with the two Dark Jedi that had gotten past them and began to attack. James watched with a smirk as Karath ran around, pushing pilots to their stations, ordering them not to move. After shoving the first two or three, James and Dan both spun around and watched in satisfaction as the screams they had heard turned out to be the two Dark Jedi falling to the floor with gashes on their chests.

The other two Jedi, along with Carth joined James and Dan at the forefront of the bridge, backing Karath into a corner. Carth stepped forward and leveled his pistols at Karath's figure, lying down and scurrying back as best he could. With a small smile, Carth shot wach of his appendages, meaning he wouldn't be moving anywhere. "Now, I'm gonna make you pay for what you've done to me." Carth growled as he rested on his haunches before Bastila grabbed his shoulders, "Don't do it Carth. Don't give in to your anger." Relectantly, Carth stood back up, before Saul's pained voice called out to him between coughs. "Carth, let me tell you something before I die." Wearily, Carth slowly turned back around as he lowered his head next to Saul's who was whispering into his ear.

With a loud cackle, Karath burst into evil snickers before James decapitated him. Carth turned on Bastila instantly, "It's true isn't it?" he demanded, finger pointed accusingly at her, at all of them except Kaidon himself. The look on his face alone showed he had no idea what was going on.

James decided to speak on behalf of all of them, "Carth, let's talk about this _after_ we escape, deal?" before heading off towards the door back to the elevator whilst Dan disabled the tractor beam. With an angry sigh, he complied as he replied, "Fine, but you've all got explaining to do." Carth muttered as they all filed into the elevator before recieving Canderous' loud voice in their comlinks, "Alright, hanger's clear. Sith put up a good fight but we got through. We're prepping the _Hawk_ as I speak. We'll be ready for you. Just hurry up." and with that the line went dead as the descent to the hangar level began.

* * *

**AN:** Okay, not as long as I was planning on it being, but remember, we still have the fight, the escape, Mannan, Lehon, the preperations for the assault on the Star Forge, the Star Forge's differant levels (Each level shall be a chapter), the recoveries of all the crew members, the ceremony and the epilogue.

**AND THEN IT'LL BE BOOK 2! :D**

**RnR**


	15. Chapter 14

"Come on! We're almost there!" Dan called out from the front of the precession of Jedi and the lone soldier. They were running down a ramp, leading to the door, literally only a few doors away from the hanger. The red hue of the corridor casting eerie shadows along the metal doors they passed along with the walls and floor. The metal grating of the corridor creating echoes to ring out all along the corridor as they all panted for breath. When they were all meters from the door, the metal plates slid apart as they allowed the very man they wished to avoid through them. As one, each Jedi Knight and the two Master's present, all ignited their lightsabers. Bastila piped up from just behind James, her yellow blade casting a beacon of hope that she didn't feel, "Darth Malak." No sooner had she spoken those words than two blaster shots whizzed by accompanied by Carth's voice, "Down you go!" The blaster bolts would have met their mark, if Malak hadn't merely raised his right arm and casually batted them aside just before throwing Carth down the hallway.

Eventually, Malak took in the gathered Jedi before him. They were the ones that he had been specifically hunting since his reign as Dark Lord of the Sith had begun. On the left stood James accompanied by Kaidon who were both sheltering Bastila. Dan was on the right, slowly building up enough force energy to rapidly increase his movements enough to break through Malak's defensive stance that he preferred. With a hearty laugh, Malak sheathed his blade but kept it at his side, "Ah, so I finally see for myself. This is hardly the reunion I anticipated. I expected you still locked up in your cells." He sneered, looking at Kaidon in particular. Kaidon's hood on his cloak was pulled up in the usual way that he had adapted, and little did he know, he was turning into his old self more and more, _before his fall that is anyway_, James thought as he looked nervously at Kaidon, just _knowing_ Malak would use this opportunity to drop the 'R' bomb on him.

"Reunion? What are you talking about Malak?" Kaidon questioned, light-sided vigour pouring into his every word. "You don't know?" Malak scoffed before allowing an evil cackle to leave his voice modulator, "You didn't tell him James? I was under the impression you were better than lies." Malak taunted yet again, James spun his lightsabers around in a circular motion with his wrists as he replied, "We didn't lie. We knew it was too dangerous to tell him." He growled back in annoyance, but with a slight hint of impatience and anger seeping through. Kaidon merely looked at James, a confused expression on his face before asking, "What are you all on about?" Malak's head instantly snapped towards Kaidon as his reply cut into the man deeply, "Surely, some of what you once were must have bubbled to the surface by now. The Jedi could never hope to truly subdue you, even when your mind was as damaged as it was."

* * *

Like a tsunami, the memories flooded back without a single warning, causing Kaidon to drop his lightsaber and grip his head in pain as they played through his mind like a small home cinema,

_**The view of a bridge, the **__Doomsayer__** as the Jedi attempted to take him prisoner. He planned on going with them anyway, he just needed to make it look like he truly was the Dark Lord of the Sith by at least putting up a **__small__** fight. **__"You cannot win Revan!"__** Bastila called out as she was flanked by James, Dan, Sasha and a promising young padawan at the time of his leave who had now become a prestigious Jedi Knight called Limnick. With a small amount of amusement, he watched as the lightsaber colours were reflected off his bold head. His head snapped towards James as he heard him call out and throw himself at Sasha, **__"Incoming!"__** before he blacked out.**_

_**The two of them; he and Bastila, were sitting under a tree just outside the Jedi enclave after a particularly gruelling day of Jedi training. He watched her intently as she spoke, always watching as she'd flutter her eyes slightly when ever he teased her, or when she blushed. They were currently nibbling on some food and picking at the long grass as he looked down, a little embarrassed at being entranced by her. Suddenly, he realised who he was talking and laughing with and he decided to ask her something very personal, **__"Bastila, what was it like when you faced Revan? Even though you had the two most famous Jedi backing you?"__** He winced slightly as her features left her face, leaving her looking out to space, all emotion gone, until she turned to look him in the eye looking guilty? She picked absent minded at the long piece of grass she was currently fiddling with as she spoke, **__"It was… difficult. Before the wars, he was a very close friend. We'd spend hours talking and laughing, much like we are actually. He was so passionate about helping everyone that when the opportunity to go to war to defend innocent people came, he grasped it with everything he had. We argued a little, he left, I focused on my studying. I became very… cold, after that mission. James changed as well. Revan and he were very close friends, but in a brotherly way. They always sparred together because nobody could ever match them. Every padawan wanted to grow up and be like them. James never left for the war however… he, he fell in love. He, wasn't the only one I knew that did."__** She trailed off, looking down at the dirt intently before picking her head up again, **__"Malak fired on his master's bridge, hoping to kill us all, only James sensing it just before the first bolt struck saved Sasha, me and Dan. Revan suffered massive head trauma. We ran through the ship, fell down elevator shafts, escaped just as the ship blew and took him before the Jedi council on Coruscant. He was in a deep coma, but he's still with the Jedi. Sometimes it's like he never really left us. I mean, we couldn't execute him, the Jedi do not kill their prisoners. Nobody deserves execution, no matter what their crimes. What greater weapon is there though, than to turn an enemy to your cause, to use their own knowledge against them?" __**She hung her head after that last sentence, not really believing those words, but she looked up afterwards, a smile gracing her soft features.**_

_**Flashes of each Star Map, quickly followed by Revan spinning his red blade around him or Bastila readying her blade, always repeating the same motion he had aboard the bridge of his ship. The vision quickly sped up, as if somebody had pressed a fast forward button within his mind and finally finished with him on his back, Bastila looking over him as she rested on her hands and knees, tears streaming down her face. Not tears of pain, but tears for him.**_

"_Normally the Jedi do not accept adults for training, but yours is a _special_ case."__** Zhar Lesitin spoke from the council chambers on Dantooine as he was accepted into the Jedi order for the **__second__** time.**_

"_This quest for the Star Forge will be dangerous, and I'm afraid it may lead you down an all to familiar path." __**Master Vrook spoke as he was given his task to visit each of the worlds Revan and Malak had travelled to, and had seemed nothing more than an old mans ramblings at the time, only now did he see the significance of them.**_

"_Tatooine, Kashyyk, Korriban Mannan, Revan visited each of these worlds on his quest to the Star Forge. One this path, they fell to the dark side. I can only pray you do not fall as well. You could be the saviour of the galaxy, or you could bring untold destruction upon us all on a scale equal to Revan's." __**Bastila spoke solemnly from her seat in the main hold in the Cargo hold after a restless night of tossing and turning, forcing him to discover Bastila asleep on the chair, shivering slightly as she too slept an ungraceful slumber.**_

_**They were stood talking in the apartment on Taris. Carth and he were trying to be as quiet as possible due to the two slumbering Jedi in the next room whilst Carth told him of rumours he had heard about Sith interrogation techniques, **__"They say the force can do terrible things to a mind: it can erase your memories, even wipe away your very identity."_

_**He was stood atop a huge and vast temple, basking in the knowledge that he would either save the republic he loves, or replace it with a stronger one. He allowed the statues of the ancient infinite empire to look down on him, knowing he would use their Star Forge in a way it was never meant to be used in. The Dark side of the force, would make the light side stronger than ever. He pulled down the hood of his cloak as he stood there, feeling the wind throw his cape around in the howling gushes that lashed at him violently. He reached up one last time and removed the Mandolorian mask from his face, allowing his untainted face to feel the air once more. Yes he was pale, but that was due to time spent in the armour and mask, not a result of the dark side that had not seduced him like a beautiful woman, but a tool that he had tamed to his will. He was not a Dark Lord of a Sith, merely a grey Jedi that had emerged from the Mandolorian war. The Dark Lord of the Sith was not a desirable position to him, but a way of stopping a threat that loomed out in dark space. If only he could remember…**_

_**

* * *

**_

With a pained yell, he let go of his head and reached for his lightsaber once more, but more confidently than before. He knew who he was and who he is. Before anyone could say anything more, he quickly looked at the Jedi around him, "I forgive you." Upon receiving three nods, the Jedi prepared to do battle once more on this ship infused with the dark side of the force. He heard Dan whisper to James as Bastila communicated to him over their bond, "You take him from the left, I'll go in from the ri-" before he could finish however, James had objected and charged the Sith as he leapt into the air, blade spinning around his body a little, "No, I'm taking him now!" Before James could even land a blow to his opponent, Malak raised his left arm, lightsaber at the ready in his right as he unleashed a powerful torrent of lightning into James chest that sent him flying down the hallway smoking from his injury. As one, the three remaining Jedi fought the Sith that blocked them from their exit. All three used the force to gauge when to attack, and when to allow another of them to leap into the fray. They traversed the corridors, parrying, blocking and striking all the way. They came to a room that had four doors, three of which were closed. Using the force with a casual wave at the door, Malak opened one and with a single sweep of his feet sent Dan and Revan tumbling through and onto their backs as Bastila fought bravely on. Bastila parried many a blow that came at her. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Carth appeared through the door behind Dan and Revan just as a ray shield blocked the two from rejoining the fight. Just as her concentration slipped, she felt a burning sensation slice across her left bicep, quickly followed by the same sensation on her left thigh. Through all of her screaming, she felt the world slow down around her. She turned her head towards the ray shield and watched as Revan furiously slashed at the barrier with his blue lightsaber blade, tears streaming down his face until he collapsed to his knees, mouthing something to her that she couldn't hear. Turning her head one final time, she watched as Malak slowly raised his lightsaber to deliver the killing blow to her. He slashed, she closed her eyes. She never felt pain, only heard the sounds of lightsabers scraping across each other. She slowly opened her tightly closed eyes to see three lightsabers locked together, two under and one atop. The two under were red and purple, the one on top belonging to Malak. Without looking backwards, she heard the voice of James as he replied to something Malak had taunted him with, "Well, I _am_ a slow learner." He quipped, breaking the lock as the three blades spun around, concentration on each of the two duellists faces. James' blades danced an intricate and deadly dance as they spun around his body showing his masterful prowess in lightsaber combat. She watched intently as Malak forced James into multiple forms as he quickly switched himself. James couldn't keep up and eventually after a roundhouse kick to the jaw from Malak, lost his right forearm. James never screamed or collapsed, only ever letting out a grunt as he was thrown to where Bastila was lying helplessly on the floor trying in vain to reach her lightsaber as all her focus in the force was being used to numb the pain in her arm and leg. The moment James landed next to her, his head resting on her hip, he passed out from the pain. From what she had heard of accounts from Jedi who had lost appendages in the war, the pain was unforgettable. In her mind, James had earned even more of her respect by not crying out. With an exhausted sigh, amplified only by his voice modulator in his metallic casing around his non-existent lower jaw, Malak sagged a little bit as he closed the door between he and Revan.

* * *

"We have to go back! I'll kill him!" Revan screamed furiously as he fought against a struggling Dan and Carth as they attempted to pull him back to the _Hawk _so they could escape. Dan decided to be the voice of reason, "Their sacrifice will mean _nothing_ if we don't make it off of this ship alive!" With a small gesture to the hallways they had to run down, Kaidon reluctantly nodded and followed the two, always looking behind him to make a vow that he would save the two Jedi. After many a turn, they finally arrived in the hanger and noticed the small battle going on for the _Hawk_. Sith soldiers didn't seem to be attempting to board the _Hawk_, but merely wear out it's ammo reserves for it's defence turret on it's underbelly.

Quickly running up the ramp that instantly began to rise, they were barraged by questions coming from everyone but Canderous as he flew the ship put of the hanger and into space where he quickly activated the hyper drive. He walked in calmly, and his eyes instantly went to where the troubled Revan and Carth sat. Revan was troubled, Carth was less troubled than furious. "What happened in there?" Sasha questioned instantly, holding her arm where she had felt James' pain. Jolee decided to continue the questions, "Where's Bastila? Where's James?" Carth instantly jumped up and began pacing the room as Revan slowly began removing his cloak,

"We ran into Malak, he would've killed her, but the two of them sacrificed themselves so that we could get away." Mission squeaked a little and the tears were visible in her eyes, "Yo-you mean they're _dead_?" Jolee decided to calm her down, although not in the friendliest way he could have done, "Bah, Malak won't kill them. He'll turn them to the dark side to do his bidding. He's got the best duellist and Bastila's battle mediation. If he uses the two properly, the Sith will always be victorious." Kaidon dropped to the seat, head cradled in his hands as he spoke the next words, his throat closing up as he did so, "We have to go back for Bastila!"

Carth was quick to interject, his distrustful nature blossoming beautifully, "Not so fast, we have bigger issues to deal with here. They deserve to know the truth about you. You wanna tell them what Malak said, or shall I?" Carth demanded furiously, pointing an accusing finger at his friend. Mission piped up from next to Zaalbar looking confused, "What's going on Carth?" she asked innocently. He was about to reply when Revan spoke up, causing Shaleena, Juhani, Mission, Zaalbar and Canderous to become deadly silent.

Knowing looks were passed between Jolee, Sasha and Carth, "I'm not Kaidon, I-I'm Revan." Mission just looked confused, but then angry as different emotions swept across her face as she spoke, "Revan? What… what are you talking about? Is this some kind of joke?" she asked indignantly before Carth came back with his quick and angry reply, torn between pulling a blaster on Revan, or pulling a blaster on the Jedi Council the next time they saw them, "No it's no joke. The Jedi captured Revan and erased the Dark Lord's mind., programming in a new identity. Saul Karath told me aboard the _Leviathan_, and the others confirmed it." Mission seemed to just ignore Carth as she shrunk away from the former Dark Lord slightly, to which he instantly felt guilty as she spoke, "Your Darth Revan? This is… this is big! Do you… do your remember anything about being the Dark Lord?" The spunky fourteen year old asked as she fiddled nervously with her blue head tails as Revan once again held his head in his gloved hands, "Few bits. Dreams in flashes. That's all." Relieved, Mission stopped cowering and slowly began approaching again, "Just a few flashes? That's it? Nothing more? Then I don't think there's a problem." She announced, receiving a warm smile from said ex-Dark Lord, and an angry yell from Carth who's right eye slightly twitched as he clenched and unclenched his fists,

"Of course it still matters! Revan was Malak's master! He turned Telos into dust! He killed my wife and took away my son! How do we know he wont go back to the Sith?" He yelled, and the most surprising thing occurred next, Canderous stood up for Revan, the butcher of Mandolorians, "Calm down Carth, everyone knows it was Malak who ordered that, most people even know it was Revan who took Malak's jaw for it." He paused, getting down onto one knee as he bowed his head and placed a balled fist over his heart as he spoke his next lines,

"Revan, you beat us in space and on the ground. You killed Mandalore, the leader of our people in a fair fight in the battle circle. I'm your man until the end, wherever you go, I shall follow." He spoke solemnly, Sasha spoke up next, grimacing as she held her arm again, "What happened to James before you got split? What ever he's going through is hell by the feel of it." She ground out through clenched teeth as Dan and Shaleena rushed to help her, "Me and Dan were kicked back and before we could get back into the fight, he activated a ray shield, cutting us off. Bastila was nicked on the arm and leg. Just as Malak was about to finish her off, James jumped in and saved her. They fought for a few minutes until he got his right forearm cut off." Revan muttered and winced as Sasha dropped to the floor writhing in pain until she passed out.

They were attaching a prosthetic to him, and he was still in an open bond with his bond mate. After Dan carted an unconscious Sasha off to the medical room, the lone Wookiee spoke up, "I agree with Mission, I swore my life debt to the person you are now, not the person you used to be." He announced in his language of barks whilst patting Revan as gently as he could on the back. Revan looked kindly up at his Wookiee friend and smiled, "Thanks Big Z."

Mission stepped up next to Canderous and Zaalbar who had gone over to one side of the room and announced sincerely, her allegiance to Revan, "Big Z and I will stick by you. We owe you our lives; won't desert you now!" He watched her smirk a little upon seeing Carth's expression that was becoming a permanent scowl, that slowly relaxed a little as he spoke up next, "I-I suppose you've proven to be a friend of the republic so far… Revan. But can I trust you? Can any of us?" he asked seriously, to which Revan had to deeply repress the urge to roll his eyes. There was a time and a place for things like that, and this most defiantly wasn't either of them, "I'm a Jedi Knight Carth, I'll do whatever I can to stop Malak. I swear to you." He slowly turned his head to look at the remaining people who hadn't spoken up yet, Jolee was the first to catch his gaze, "I always knew who you were, just figured it wasn't my place to tell you. In my book, you're an alright lad." Jolee spoke with a hint of his usual gruffness gone as HK-47 was the next to speak up after all the buzzing and whirring that he had been causing throughout this entire escapade,

**Curious observation**: It seems my assassination protocols are restoring themselves. It seems they repair themselves upon- upon returning to my _original_ master. I am fully functional and ready to serve master. It is a distinct pleasure to see you again master."

"Wow, what are the chances of that happening?" Mission asked to the universe in general, her mouth hanging slightly agape in wonder. Canderous laughed a little bit as he gave his views on the situation, "Remember we're talking about the force here. At this point Malak himself could drop out of the sky and I wouldn't bat an eyelash." Mission chuckled a little bit as she giggled, "Good point." Revan stood up before all the others that had gradually left Carth on his own side of the room, "Well Carth, do you trust me?" He asked with a slight raise to his right eyebrow.

Carth seemed to lose all defiance in that once simple second as his shoulders slumped and all vigour left him, "The others all trust you… I've got no reason not to. I- I don't really have much of a choice do I?" he chuckled nervously as he walked over and gripped Revan's offered hand before the two embraced in a hug of friendship that could only be forged in the fires of battle. Carth pulled away a little but as he went and headed for the cockpit, pulling his orange flight jacket a little as he did so, "I'll set a course for Mannan!" he called over his shoulder as the group dispersed. Kaidon himself was off to have a relaxing sleep to try and recover his waning strength. Upon the door opening, he went to the closest bunk and collapsed on it, never once moving in his sleep, the events of the day being just far too much for his body to handle.

* * *

**AN: **Well, here's the escape from the _Leviathan_, hope you enjoyed it! :)

no updates until I get my laptop back from the fixing people, cause it's got spyware :'(

**RnR because it's an extra long chapter! :D**


	16. Chapter 15

The trio walked down the corridor to the _Ebon Hawk_ on Mannan for the final time. The had invaded a Sith base, walked the ocean floor, saved a giant Firaxan shark, been on trial twice and had served as Arbiter for a man named Sunry who was an old friend of Jolee. All in all, it had been a very busy month and a half.

Three days ago, both Revan and Sasha felt their bond-mates all but dissapear. Upon searching for the two within their minds, they only found an empty feeling unlike anything they had felt before. Naturally, the two feared the worst for their loves, but promised each other that if they had succumed to the dark side and could not be redeemed, that they would do the most difficult thing they could do. They would kill them.

The trio stood just outside of the _Hawk's_ hangar bay, shifting uncomfortably in the artificial glow the lights gave. None of the three young Jedi wanted to speak their minds first, until Dan spoke up due to lack of patience, "How do we know they are not dead?" he asked, looking between Revan and Sasha sincerly.

Revan spoke up, allowing Sasha to just nod her head as she agreed with him, "We can still feel a trace of their emotions. I feel hate, anger, passion," he paused for a second, shocked, "love." he looked down defeated as Sasha announced the emotitions she felt with the bond from James, "I sense fear, anger, hopelessness and of course, love." she announced with a sad smile. With a short nod, Dan lead the small team that had stayed behind towards the ship they would be leaving their final planet on, never once looking back.

* * *

"Stop!" the figure panted, his shirtless torso covered in layers of foul smelling sweat. A mechanical laughter erupted from before him. The tortures had been going on none stop for a good two weeks now and he was beginning to believe the dreams he was tortured with, much to Malak's twisted pleasure.

Bastila had still retained her composure, but she was already set on the same path he was already walking. He'd been walking it the entire time he was a Jedi, but was always in denial of it, always maintaining the strong beliefs of a true Jedi. He wanted nothing more than to summon his lightsabers and cut Malak down.

Another mechanical chuckle snapped him out of his dark thoughts, "Good, I can feel your anger. Use it, and your fall to the darkside shall be complete!" he hissed as James struggled against the next vision he sent to him.

* * *

_**A panting woman was covered in sweat, crying silently. Almost immediatly James reconised the woman as Sasha. In the background he heard a baby crying along with some other muffled tears. Sasha began breathing harder and harder, her breaths becoming shallow. She seemed to look right at him next as she spoke her final words, **__"Save me James."_

_

* * *

_The vision alone was enough for James to summon enough of his exhausted powers to allow his quick and painful release to the old stone floor. Malak stepped back far enough to watch the struggling form of James attempt to stand, only to collapse back to the floor again in a heap of moans and silent sobs.

With the sound of a snap hiss behind him, Malak spun, lightsaber at the ready to see a Dark Jedi stood there defiantly. Malak activated his lightsaber and made a poor attempt to save his own life, knowing this was merely a droid programmed to do what he desired of it. After the second attack from said droid, Malak made a show of having his lightsaber removed from his hands as he scurried backwards on the floor of the room. He watched James sit there, slowly regaing his strength to either flee, or help in the attack.

Something Malak hadn't anticipated happening so soon into the conflict occured upon James' call out to the 'Dark Jedi', "Stop!" apparently not hearing James, the droid slowly got ready to slash down with his lightsaber, "I need him!" James called again, much to Malak's twisted pleasure, and that's when the droid brought it's lightsaber down, intending to cut Malak at the waist.

With a loud roar of defiance, Malak watched as his own lightsaber flew right to James' newly gauntleted right hand, came to life in a brilliant crimson colour, removed the droid's arm and pushed it out the window with a powerful storm of lightning.

Slowly, Malak rose from his position and stood over his new apprentice confidently as James; who was on his knees, hung his head, panting and distraught at what he had just done, "What have I done?" he cried. Malak let out a small chuckle as he folded his arms over his chest in a form of victory, "You are fufilling your destiny, James."

James looked up at him, face covered with a layer of sweat as he rested on his knees, eyes looking pleadingly at his new master. "I will do anything you ask, _master_." he paused a minute as he took in a deep breath, "Just help me save Sasha. I can't live without her." he finally pleaded. Malak took in a long, drawn out breath, before replying. "Good. Hence forth, you shall be known as Darth... Novas."

The former Jedi slowly stood up, a grateful expression on his face as he did so, "What shall you have me do master?" he asked, going to retreive his lightsabers that had been secured since his incarceration and following torture. Malak thought for a moment, thinking about how best to test his new apprentice's new allegiance.

Then it struck him, with an evil cackle, he turned to look at his apprentice pulling on his personal robes and cloak, "Break Bastila, and turn her into an apprentice of your own. She shall be used to destroy Revan before the fight even begins. After her inevitable confrontation with your old friends, wait in the control room below the observation deck and confront Daniel Newberry. After you destroy him, shall you have the power you need to save Sasha." With a short bow, James turned to leave the room as he dismissed himself, "As you wish, Lord Malak."

* * *

The journey to the Star Forge was a long one to a sector of unexplored space within the mid rim. Canderous was polishing his Mandolorian armour and weapons, Carth was getting some much needed sleep, Mission was also asleep, Zaalbar was eating, Revan was practising his lightsaber forms, Sasha was crying in the cargo hold with Juhani comforting her gently, Jolee was creating medical suppiles, the droids were shut down and the only two properly conversing were Dan and Shaleena in his quarters.

The lighting was low, and the two were sat together, Dan leaning against the wall whilst Shaleena sat atop of him, placing with the fingers wrapped securely around her waist. Eventually, she looked up at him as she looked over her shoulder and let out a small sigh, "How long do you think we'll have to go before we tell them?" her accented voice purred slightly at a low level.

Upon feeling Dan's gentle sigh rather than hear it, she gave a small squeeze to his calloused hand to reassure him, he spoke up, "I-I don't know. Eventually. We can't keep this a secret. I just want you to know, I would leave the order for you Shaleena." he promised, kissing the back of her neck tendery.

With a sharp intake of breath, he noticed his woman become mere putty in his hands, so to speak. When she became a mere blur, Dan instantly found her lips crashing against his in a tender moment of passion. They continued on like that for a good hour or so, until they sat there gazing into each others eyes for three hours straight, not a word spoken from either of them.

* * *

From the cargo hold in the _Ebon Hawk_, Revan was rehersing his Kata's for the upcoming battle that was sure to come.

In everyone's personal way, they were preparing themselves mentally and physically for the fight for the Republic. As he was practising his fourth parry in the eight form, he stumbled from the power emenating from Dan's quarters. As he looked closer into the force, he distinguished his two friends, but a third, more powerful presence.

The presence held complete raw power that surpassed everyone on the ship, he included. As he searched for the source of the power, he was drawn to Shaleena, but not her. Upon figureing it out, Revan leaned against the bulkhead and slowly slid down with a smile and a small chuckle escaping his sweat covered lips.

Shaleena was pregnant with Dan's child.

* * *

_"Bastila, Malak ordered me to turn you, that's where I fooled the bastard. I won't turn you. I'll help you escape from the temple. After you escape, head straight for the beach hidden in the cliffs. This is my duty to Sasha, I _won't_ allow you to follow me down this path. Within this datapad is the directions, authority and information on this planet. I trust that you'll escape unharmed, especially now that I'm Malak's apprentice. God I hate that man_." With that, the recording finished, leaving nothing but a blank, black screen as deep as space itself.

Bastila had listened to it time and time again since arriving on the beach where the directions lead to. Sith were swarming the Star Forge, making an attempt off the planet impossible without a Sith ship. As she lay under the sun, she remembered the burning hatred that had threatened to consume her as Malak tortured her.

She had fallen to the darkside at one point, but held onto the one bright spark within her for a chance at redemption, Revan. He was just like she remembered before the war. She lay there for an unknown amount of time before the loud crack of a ship breaking through the atmosphere forced her to open her eyes in surprise. As she looked up, she spotted a familer silouette belowing out a small amount of smoke from an engine before coming down for a clumsy landing. By now, she had scrambled behind the rocks as the ship landed on the beach, _her beach_.

It wasn't any coincidence James had sent her to this one specifically. Four figures stepped out from the ramp and slowly looked around before the lead hooded figure looked directly at her, despite being shrouded in the shadows like a blanket. Acting more on instinct to danger rather than logic, she activated her lightsaber and charged out of her cover with a ferocious cry. The hooded figure barely had time to activate his own blue blade before he became two cauterised pieces of meat on the beach.

She landed blow after blow that was easily parried by the man. For what felt like an eternity of slashing at the man, in reality was only a few seconds to the bystanders. With an invisable power, the man opened his free palm and lifted her thrashing form up into the air and held her there as he deactivated his own blade. "Bastila?" The man questioned as he removed his hood to reveal his lightly tanned skin, shoulder length brown hair, strong jaw and dark brown eyes. With a sharp intake of breath, Bastila reconised the man.

_Her man_.

* * *

**AN:** Gaahh! only 2021 words! .

I'm _really_ sorry about the length of this chapter considering I havn't updated in a while. I've re wrote this time and time again and could never get it to go how I truly wanted it to. I'm sorry! :'(

In this chapter, we see James' weakness clearer than ever before. I feel bad about using a _Revange of the Sith _moment, but as the books go on, you'll understand why I did it, besides it being a fairly dark moment that I couldn't get right without a _little_ help. :D

Shaleena is pregnant! :o 'nuff said.

Bastila and Revan's fight was a little more difficult since I hated the whole confrontation between Revan and Bastila on the temple and Star Forge. And I thought it also showed that James still had some good in him. Revan and Bastila's fight in this chapter was only fairly short because I thought, _Revan is supposed to be stupidly powerful and skilled with a lightsaber right? So why would it take so long? I mean, If Bastila was so angry, she would have lost quite a lot of logical thinking and would have gone head on in a small frenzy of her own, only to be regenerated throughout the fight. What if Bastila escaped and ended up on the beach that you land on? _And that's how I got that small confrontation.

Tell me what you think of it please! :D

**RnR!**


	17. Chapter 16

"Revan?" she gasped, as she was slowly lowered to the floor.

Upon reaching the floor, both Jedi dropped to their knees before each other and gingerly touched each others faces to make sure that the other was real. Slowly, their calloused hands stroked the others hands, tracing invisible lines as they stroked the other tenderly. When they were both satisfied the other was real, they crashed their lips together, allowing all their passion and love to come together in a frenzy.

Behind the two, three Jedi stood there feeling a little awkward and happy at the same time.

With a small cough from an obviously male voice, the two Jedi broke apart with large smiles on their faces as they grinned at the others. The male spoke up whilst removing his hood from his head, "I hope your not planning on keeping her all to yourself, Revan." Dan joked, just before Bastila rushed him head on and nearly knocked him to the floor from the power of the hug.

Dan merely chuckled before returning the hug gratefully. The next few minutes went by as a small reunion for the five Jedi on the beach, until the mood became somber once more, "Where's James?" Sasha asked in a pained voice. As much as she didn't want to tell her, Bastila knew that she had to.

She gathered the courage and went straight into an answer, "He's Malak's new apprentice." She said in a neutral voice. Sasha instantly collapsed to her knees, sobbing uncontrolably as Shaleena dropped down next to her, placing a comforting hand on her shaking shoulders. Dan looked down, but kept his face neutral and Revan began pacing before he spoke up, "How did you escape?" Bastila smiled a little bit before responding, remembering the recording she had in her small satchel on her right hip, "James helped me escape. Malak tortured him more than me." Sasha stopped sobbing long enough to raise her head a little and ask a curious question between sniffs, "He-he helped you escape?" she asked, a small amount of hope beginning to glow within her bright, electic blue eyes.

With a short nod, Bastila continued but a little sadder, "Malak ordered him to torture me. He tricked the Dark Lord and allowed me to escape. James is doing this for a purpose. I know what that purpose is, but I don't wish to reveal it just yet. It's not the time." She replied, ending the conversation's direction then and there.

The other Jedi all recieved the rather obvious hint before Revan spoke up, encasing her hands within his own as he brought his forehead to rest upon her own, "I felt you fall." he whispered tenderly. Being reminded of her rage controlling her momentarily caused a shiver to run down her spine, and Revan picked up on it.

Being controlled by rage and hate is almost like there is no more warmth in the world, and she didn't want to be reminded of it. "Shh, it's okay, I'm here. I won't allow you to fall again. I promise." he whispered gently, pulling her form into a warm embrace for a few minutes before they would have to break apart and carry on with the mission. "Guys, as much as I love having Bastila around, we got stuff we need to do." Shaleena reminded everyone as she caught onto the hint of desperation in her voice that had been lightly hinted on her slowly tanning face.

With short nods, the Jedi put their hoods on once more as Revan tossed a spare over to Bastila, who caught it gratefully.

* * *

As they began walking towards the cliffs, two Duro's ran around the corner and straight into Sasha. Despite running head on into her at a furious speed, Sasha never fell over.

She had sensed the urgency from the two Duro's just before they ran around the corner, and had enough time to fix herself to the spot with the force. The paler Duro's was the first to recover and began running off before the other got a chance to get up.

Revan instantly gripped his arm and spun him around to face him, "What's the meaning of this? Why are you in such a hurry?" he demanded, slowly releasing the Duros. The alien instantly collapsed to his knees and began babbling in his native language, "Thank the gods! Jedi! We're saved! We're saved! Tell me, will you kill the murderous animals?" the Duro's spoke quickly, always glancing back the way they had come.

Before Revan could reply, a band of slightly reptillian sentiants with grey, scaly skin charged around the corner hefting vibroblades and vibroswords and shouting a war cry.

Instantly, the Jedi ignited their lightsabers. Revan brought his blue blade into a reverse grip, Dan held his silver blade down at his side, Sasha brought her pink blade behind her head, Shaleena activated each end of her saber staff seperatly and finally Bastila activated her yellow blade with a proud flourish. T

he natives didn't seem fazed by the sight before them and kept on charging. Reluctantly, Bastila less so from what she had seen of these creatures, the Jedi leapt forward in a force enhanced jump and landed infront of their individual targets as one. With a single swipe from each Jedi, the natives fell either from a slash across the torso, or missing an apendage.

They were about to resheath their blades when a primitive arrow struck the ground just before Dan, causing him to jump back a little in surprise. As one, the Jedi raised their heads to look for where the arrow had originated from and spotted their target, a grey skinned native much the same as the sword weilding ones from a few moments before.

With a small sigh, Dan switched the grip of his lightsaber and sent it flying straight and true like a javalin into the aliens chest cavity. Dan watched with little interest as the alien sputtered a few incoherant words in his language before slowly slumping forward and bouncing off the rocks as it fell down to their level on the beach, blade still activated.

With a casual wave, his lightsaber flew true back into his hand and instantly he attached it to his belt in one swift movement. The other Duro's who hadn't spoken all the way through the ordeal ran up to the Jedi and exclaimed, "You have defeated the murderous animals! We thank you, human, for saving us!" Dan and the rest of the Jedi bowed slightly before Revan began to reply for the rest of the group as they went off to check the perimeter, "It's really alright." he bagan, but was interrupted by the first Duro's hastily continuing, "Your landing could not have been more fortuitously timed, we would have been in great danger. We thank you again for saving us." he babbled, earning an eye roll from Revan who had masked his features from the rest of the world by replacing his hood just before they began the fight, "Why would you think we're friendly? For all you know, we could be Dark Jedi." he asked patiently.

The more confidant Duros spoke up as a reply, still looking around cautiously, "Why... why would you not be? All we survivors on this strange world must band together, else the marauding inhabitants would slaughter us all! They attack any the come across. They are barbaric savages who feast upon the bodies of the dead! The only beings who crash here who can hold them off are the Mandolorians, and we dare not go near them... we know of their deproditians too well." He was about to continue, but Revan cut him off with a hasty wave of the hand, "There are Mandolorians here?" he asked as he stroked his chin slowly in thought, weighing the pro's and con's of their situation. So far it sounded like it was nothing but cons.

"Yes, there are. More than you might think, although that might just be because they aren't killed as easily as we are. With their weapons they raid and kill other survivors, and can fight off the natives as well. They seem to have some sort of inviibility or cloaking field that hides them until they strike." he spoke quickly, slowly glancing towards the sea before Revan drew his attention once more, "Where are they?" he asked, pulling his hilt off his belt as he expanded his senses all the way to the site of the temple, "They are north of here by a large temple structure. We dare not approach it for they would surely kill us. But we cannot delay here much longer... The longer we stay, the more likely either the Mandolorians or the natives will find us and kill us." Revan looked puzzled before coming up with the most logical thing he'd heard since speaking to this pair of what he assumed to be smugglers, "Why don't you just try to get to one of the other islands?" The Duro's seemed to hesitate before replying as he looked out to sea, his friend and the Jedi joined him.

"I believe that would be the best choice... The others have not returned, but it may be because they could not find a way to. It would be worth the risk, rather than stay here and face certain death... I thank you and your companions one last time, human, for saving us. We shall remember you, and hope that, should you escape, you will tell the Republic of those of us stranded here." he finished before he and his companion ran into the water and proceeded to swim as fast as their arms would take them.

Revan stood there a few minutes, just gazing off into the distance as he scanned the ocean. There was a downed _Hammerhead_ class Republic ship out there, half sunken, but aside from that, he could see no other ship out in that direction that could be useful. With a small sigh, he turned around slowly and began walking up the beach to where they were headed before.

With his forefinger pointing up into the sky, he made a small circular gesture, causing the rest of his team for the trip to group up and move out and into the mainland.

* * *

"Shh.." Revan whispered to the group as they arrived outside the temple. Dan made a slightly disgusted snort behind him just before he spoke up, "Rancors, a shit-load of them. I'm counting about three each..." he trailed off, looking over at Sasha before continuing, "And since when do you have a _pink_ lightsaber?" he asked increduously.

Sasha looked him in the eye and replied, "It doesn't matter, besides, I found the crystal in the Sith base on Mannan." she sniffed, due to the amount of pollen in the air. Revan quickly spun around and motioned for everyone to get down to the floor and mask themselves in the force. As they did so, the largest Rancor of the area walked past in the clumsy fashion it was known to walk in.

A few minutes later, and the giant beast had all but dissapeared around the rocks and so Revan motioned for them to get up. "Right, the way I see it as, we've got to take out at least a _few_ of the bastards before we can safely move on. Dan, I want you to take the three closest to the temple. Sasha, take the ones on the right, Shaleena your on the middle. Me and Bastila will act as support for any of you. Any questions?" Revan asked as he gently clapped his hands together and rubbed them in anticipation. Upon recieving none, the Jedi moved out into the temple grounds and split up and went off to attack their designated targets.

* * *

Dan broke off into a force enhanced sprint as he activated his silver blade and threw it in a fashion that meant it would spin throughout it's graceful arc.

The lightsaber connected with it's target and completly sliced through it, sending the Rancor to the floor with a loud cry as it lost it's right leg. Instantly Dan began to ignore that one for the time being and began focusing on the other two. Looking up at the closest, he spotted a small thermal detonator wedged between two of it's teeth.

With a small grin, Dan leapt forward and sent a small spark of electricity towards the grenade, causing it to explode instantly, sending torn skin, bone and muscle up into the air. The Rancor landed with half it's head completly missing. With a small grunt, Dan jumped back in just enough time to avoid the large clawed hand that came crashing down to where he had been just moments before.

Again, a small grunt left his tightly pressed lips as he pushed his body forwards yet again and gave a small leap onto the beasts arm before he began running up and along it. The beast gave a startled cry before Dan jumped on it's head and plunged the lightsaber into it's head as he slid down it's back and along it's small, stubby tail and jumped off it in an elegant foreward flip before landing and sheathing his blade, hearing the telltale crash of the monster landing behind him.

* * *

Sasha ran forward, using her power of the force to bring the largest tree she could find, straight into the body of her closest Rancor, earning a loud boom as it fell, crushed to death instantly. Now there were only two. The closest she jumped towards, propelling her body upwards to meet with it's eye.

In a single, but powerful slash, she blinded the creatures sight from that direction, making her job slightly easier. Before she began her rapid decent back down to the floor again, she grabbed onto the pock-marked skin of it's face and with a powerful pull coupled with her upwards momentum, managed to land on the creatures head and plunge her pink blade into it's tanned skin.

As she did so, she unleashed a torrent of powerful lightning into the creatures system; the point of entry being the lightsaber that only helped to make the lightning all the worse. As the thrashing of the creature increased, she lost her footing and did a full swing around her lightsaber blade before being thrown up into the air before her landing on the head of the Rancor again allowed her the chance to plunge the blade back into it's head before she jumped up into the air, did a half turn and at the pinnacle of the jump unleashed another torrent of force lightning, only more powerful than the last.

The creature dropped dead just before she began her attack on the final one, beginning with a graceful backwards flip to land just before it. As she landed, a small mushroom cloud appeared around her boots as it slowly expanded and eventually dissipated within three meters of the Rancor, startling it slightly. The moment she stood back up from her crouched landing, Sasha threw her blade straight and true to the creatures right eye, so deep it sunk all the way to the hilt. With a cry of pain, the creature collapsed onto it's belly before Sasha unleashed a storm of the lighting, again worsened by the lightsaber that was channeling it into the brain.

Once the final Rancor she was designated to kill fell, she used the force to rip her blade out of the corpse and began walking over to Shaleena who was finishing off her last one.

* * *

Shaleena didn't move to begin with once she confronted the Rancors she needed to kill.

Instead, she delved into the two closest creatures minds with the force and enticed them to jump off the cliffs at the promise of a huge carcass to feast upon. The promise was true, but it wasn't a carcass the Rancors could eat. The carcass was an old Corellian frieghter that looked like it had been blasted out of orbit rather than caught in the disrupter field like they had.

Ignoring the cries of the Rancors as they fell further and further down the cliff they had just been forced off, she noticed the final Rancor charging towards her, teeth bared. As she looked around her surroundings, she noticed it was also the runt of the area as well.

Giving a small sigh, she too charged forwards to meet her adversary. She threw the pole of her double bladed lightsaber and with the awsome power of the force, activated the two activation buttons on it's hilt as one. The two brilliant blue beams activated instantly, just before they both tore through the muscles on her target.

As the Rancor opened it's mouth in a furious cry of pain, the Jedi leapt up and landed on it's head, preferring to give it a quick death than a painful one. In one fluid motion, she pulled the thermal detonator off of her belt and threw it down the gullet of the creature.

She counted the seconds left on the timer before she jumped at the last second, avoiding the gore that erupted from the creatures stomach in all directions. With a small sigh she landed in a crouch and gently soothed her stomach with a small but tender rub, making the slowly developing child calm down.

She walked over to Dan and Sasha who had been approaching her before their attention was taken by Revan and Bastila who had appeared to have found the Mandolorians. With a group nod, the three Jedi moved towards the ensuing battle.

* * *

Revan and Bastila moved towards where they sensed hidden danger at a huge obselisk. As they slowly approached it, a number of Mandolorians, dressed in the differant colours of their military ranking system appeared from stealth fields.

The one behind both Revan and Bastila unleashed an adhesive grenade, that meant they would have to go on the defensive from the spot they were rooted to. Eventually the grenade would wear off after a few minutes, as it would just dissolve, but they didn't have a few minutes. Instantly their lightsabers were alive and bouncing blaster bolts away from their bodies.

A few lucky deflections sent a few bolts into their attackers before the rest of their team were upon them, either cutting off limbs or impaling them with their blades. None of the Mandolorians had time to react to their attack. After a few more minutes, the grenades wore off of Revan and Bastila were free once more.

With thankful smiles, the two Jedi joined their friends as they continued towards a path leading to the south, as the main door was protected by some sort of field that drained the life of the trespasser, as was whitnessed by Revan upon their approach to the obselisk.

* * *

**AN:** A much better chapter i believe, and the next chapters will be much the same as these, and only missing a few hours between them at most. hope i'm not letting you guys down with this story! :)

**RNR**


	18. Chapter 17

Five fighters lined up as they dived downwards and level out as they traveled over the hull of a Republic _Hammerhead_ class ship, banking from left to right to avoid Turbolaser fire and the turrets themselves. When they reached the opposite side of the capital ship, all fighters simulatiniously entered a slow, graceful spin and dived down, activating their booster engines as they did so. What lay before them was a battle that would be told for countless generations.

Never before had a battle been fought in such despiration and numbers. Turbolaser shots painted the skies in reds and greens over the lost world, Lehon.

As the five fighters leveled out and began their graceful flight over and under the starships and fighters that were currently in the middle of a fight. They hadn't even passed the first capital ship, when the ship they were flying over lit up that area of space in a brilliant explosion, only to be extinguished by the vaccume of space. Never breaking formation, the fighters plowed on and dodged a few shots let off by a Sith frigates turbolasers. After escaping the immediate area of that ship, they decided to stay close to a republic dreadnaught as it fired on the previous frigate. As they traveled it's hull, they completed one or two graceful flips until they leveled out, only to have the frigate they were about to pass over exploade, causing them to fly through it's debris and flames.

After they escaped those flames, they pulled up as one, coming level with their target, yet nobody said anything over the Comm channels.

From the small hull of Revan's Jedi fighter, T3 looked around and gave a few excited beeps, "Lock onto it T3. Guy's, the Star Forge is directly ahead. The one crawling with Sith fighters." Sighs were heard throughout the channel as each of the companions gave an exhasperated sigh. Daniel was the one to speak his thoughts, "Oh I see it, this is going to be easy." he spoke sarcastically. Bastila spoke into the battel frequency now, "Carth, do you copy?" In a crackly, static filled voice, Carth replied, "_Copy you Bastila._" As Bastila flipped a few controls on her display, she replied, "Get the _Hawk _behind us, and get your squad of fighters to fall in as well." With a small chuckle she heard his reply, "_Copy that Red leader, Hawk is on it's way. Unlock S-foils and attack positions boys."_ Bastila had to sigh at his coyness in the battle so far.

When she was finished, she came back to the inter-strike team Comm channel, only to hear Revan's smirk as he said, "This is where the fun begins."

From outside the cockpits of the ships, all the fighters opened their small wings, preparing for the fight that was surely about to happen, only to have the _Ebon Hawk_ and the wing of fighters all fall in behind them, unfortunatly they were still out numbered and out gunned.

From her seat, Sasha was watching the events before her pass comfortably, but after hearing that remark from Revan, and then seeing how many fighters they were about to go up against, she opened her channel and ordered, "Let them pass between us." As she said those words, every ship behind them, theirs included, dodged to the best of their ability.

Only a few spinning out of control and eventually crashing. The cries of each fighter pilot as each were shot down echoed through all of their cabins until Shaleena spoke up, "I'm gonna go help them out." but Dan's words stopped her in her tracks, "No, they are doing their job, now we can do ours." From infront of them, none of them failed to notice the three ships coming at them, each unloading five missiles, meaning that all of them were going to have to pull _something_ out of their asses.

As they drew closer, Revan called out, "Missiles! Pull up!" Once the missiles had passed between them, and the _Ebon Hawk _had broken off, only to fall in behind them later, Dan called out again, "They almost shot us." but the forboding tone in Revan told otherwise, "Their coming around." and with those words, each and every Jedi starfighter broke off, attempting to lose their designated missiles.

* * *

Dan flew straight past the main viewport of Admiral Dodonna's flagship, unknowingly striking the fear that the mission would not be completed into their hearts. From within his cockpit, Dan pulled hard on the yoke, never doing anything too fancy. When his designated droid spoke up from where he was inserted outside, Dan merely replied, "No, no. Nothing _too_ fancy."

* * *

Revan was a little differant. From his seat, he was flipping switches and punching a few buttons as he manouvered the ship, "Surge all power units T3, stand-by and prepare for reverse thrusters." Just seconds after ordering those words, Revan's starfighter entered the tightest, most well control on the spot roll that had ever been attempted, causing the missiles behind him to collide with one another as they attempted the same thing. With the explosion behind them, T3 called out in joy as Revan grinned, ear to ear. "We got 'em T3."

* * *

Sasha too was flipping switches, much like James had told her to do if a crisis such as this presented itself. Knowing what she was headed into, she menataly prepared herself for when she would pass through the three enemy fighters before her. As she pushed the ship a little further at her current speed, she uttered the words "Flying is for droids." As she passed through the fighters, she ignited her booster engines, giving her a powerful burst of speed as three explosions behind her told her that her plan had worked perfectly.

* * *

Shaleena had already sorted her missile out and was heading towards Dan's IFF that was weaving in and out of capital class ships. The move she was planning was risky, and could eventually end in her death. In all fairness thought, death by fireball was not a particually _wanted_ death to her. As their ships drew closer, Shaleena opened up with her cannons and fired at the homing missiles. Two lit up the sky, causing the third to be sent off course and impact some debris.

* * *

As the fighters and the _Hawk _lined back up again, Revan spoke up, "The Star Forge is dead ahead." Only to hear Dan's incredulous voice pipe up, "Well have you noticed the shields are still up?" he exclaimed, quickly swerving out of the way of Revan's barrel roll over him as he opened fire on the shield generators.

The shields flickered for a moment before the died and allowed safe entry into the Star Forge. Well, as safely as they could with Turbolasers firing at them. Before they could land their fighters, the failsafe's for the hangars kicked in and the massive slabs of metal could be seen beginning to cover their hangar.

Shaleena spoke up, "Oh I have a _bad_ feeling about this." Just before their fighters and the _Hawk_ flew past the bulkhead and came skidding down onto the deck, the _Ebon Hawk_ gracefully landing within all of the confusion.

As one, each of the Jedi leapt out of their cockpits, igniting their lightsabers in a beautiful but deadly spectrum of light.

Much to Bastila's annoyance once she too had leapt out, Revan's hood was still covering his face. Each of the Jedi landed in a blurry dance of light, cutting down Sith soldiers and wardroids as their victims fell to the power of the lightside.

As the last Sith wardroid fell, it let out a particulary pathetic, "Ohh." as it fell. When the Jedi convened once again, they all grinned from ear to ear, only to be joined by their companions and several more Jedi who had travelled on the _Hawk_. A particulary arrogant pair of Jedi stalked up to them, whislt the first of the pair spoke up, "We could have handled them just as well you know. Your lust for battle seems to compell you all." With a small scoff, Revan quickly covered his hidden mouth with an armoured, gauntleted hand. "We don't need your approval, _Padawan_." Shaleena spoke up, feeling an unexpected swell of pride with her new position as knight.

The two Jedi seemed insulted, but nevertheless backed down. Revan turned to look at the Jedi and said, "I think we should have the Jedi hold the hangar at all costs, giving us a fall back point. Set up a few things from the _Hawk_ to support you. We've got Turbolaser turrets and the droids. Bot to mention the defence turret underneath the cockpit. Just make sure that if shit hits the can, then we got a point of escape." he ordered, and much to everyones pleasure, all the assembled Jedi nodded their agreement.

Once the others had all gone to their tasks, the Jedi strike team gathered once more as Shaleena spoke up, "I smell a trap, next move?" With a small grin, Dan looked at her and said, "Spring the trap of course." he grinned and was about to move off into the station when Bastila's voice stopped him in his tracks, "Did anyone see where Sasha went?"

* * *

**AN:** Okay, so I apologise for the skip in time. I just couldn't get the story to flow how I wanted it to flow if you know what I mean, hence the late update. I aplogise for the short chapter, but they will get better. I've decided to only have a few more chapters in the story now, as I believed that I'd be delivering quantity instead of quality. Anywho, enjoy! :')

**RnR**


	19. Chapter 18

He sat there, Sith corpses scattered around him. Some had holes through their torso's, others were in peices. Most were the former.

He sat there imersing himself within the force, allowing it to guide him through his dark and troubled times. Despite being promised the power to save her, he still felt no differant, and Malak had yet to teach it him. With the exception of Bastila's _escape_, he had done everything to the letter, despite how it made him feel.

In a sense, he felt betrayed and broken.

In a sense, the Jedi had betrayed him.

In a sense, the Jedi were evil for forbidding the power that was promised to him.

He sat there, meditating in the middle of the control room for the great and powerful Star Forge, most of the space being taken up by command consoles and auxilery terminals. Most of the metal within the Forge's control room was either a dull metalic gray, or the blood red that some of the heavy troopers were wearing. He felt the Dark Jedi sent to kill Revan blink out quickly. With a small, silent sigh, he spun his head around to the door, preparing to yell at the latest lackey of the Dark Lord to come groveling for forgiveness.

When he finally stood and spun on his heel, he was suprised to say the least. Standing before him was not a Sith, but his bond mate. She looked beautiful. He didn't need to think twice before he jogged over to her and sweapt her up into his arms, lifting her petite form off the ground slightly.

After what felt like a peaceful eternity, he held her at an arms length, smiling with an unhidden love that he transmitted through their bond. At first, she looked happy, but then a look of pain crossed her face as she cupped his own with her tender hands.

With a stutter as she fought for breath, she began, "I-I was so worried about you," she began, seemingly on the edge of hyperventalating, "Bastila, Bastila said some terrible things." With an instant darkening of his features, he replied in a dark tone, "What _things_?" With a small shake of her head, she continued as she held onto the hem of his Jedi robes. "She said, you turned to the Darkside. That you, that you _killed_ Jedi." At this he looked down, but not a single emotion crossing his face. It had been one of his more difficult missions to say the least.

Eventually, he looked up at her and spoke in a low, deadly whisper slowly, "Bastila and the others are trying to turn you against me." At her quick shake of the head, she continued, holding him tenderly, "No, they're trying to save you."

As he pulled away slightly, he asked, "Save me?" She nodded slowly, small bangs of her brunette hair falling before her face, to which he gently stroked away and placed them behind her ears, "They want to help save you." When he smiled slightly as he toyed with the necklace he had bought for her just before the strike team mission, she looked deeply into his brown eyes and vowed, "James, all I want is your love." But then, before she could continue, he spoke up in an almost pleading tone, begging her to see reason, "But love won't save you Sasha. Only my new powers can do that." he said with a small shake of his head, almost as if she didn't believe what he was saying.

"But at what cost? Your a good person! Don't do this." She begged, pleading for him to see reason."I won't lose you Sasha." He vowed, stroking her cheek tenderly with his prosthetic, gauntleted right arm, as she shook her head slightly, he continued, "I am becoming more powerful than any Jedi has ever _dreamed_ of becoming. And I'm doing this for you. To protect you." He said solomly, with a firm nod as he continued to carress her cheeks.

As she began to run her fingers through his hair in a final act of despiration, she asked one thing that she had honestly thought of asking of him when they first fell in love, "Come away with me. Leave everything else behind while we still can!" With a small grin, he leant down a little, looking her directly in the eye as a mad glint emenated from within, "Don't you see? We don't have to run anymore! I have brought peace to the Republic. I am more powerful than Malak. I-I can overthrow him. Me and you can rule the Galaxy! Make things the way we want them to be!" He proclaimed boldly, Sasha ever so slowly inching away from him as the glint intensified,

"I don't believe what I'm hearing." She announced with a shake of her head, "Bastila and the others were right. You've changed." She whispered, before James rose a mechanical finger towards her, "I don't want to hear about Bastila and the others. The Jedi turned against me, don't you turn against me!" he warned, still watching her intently as she backed away slightly. "I don't know you anymore." She announced between sobs, as she continued, "James, your breaking my heart. Your going down a path I can't follow." She cried out in anguish, with the sound of the doors re-opening, James' gaze darted there and he instantly became angry as he spoke his next words, "Because of the others?" When she failed to turn, she continued in a full fit of tears as she fought for breath, "Because of what you've done!" What you plan to do! Stop! Come back! I love you!" James began pacing before her now, becoming more angry with each step, until he finally rounded on her in a blind fury as he cried, "Liar!"

At once, Sasha spun on her heel and spotted Dan standing there just inside the room, his cloak still on his body as he stood there defiantly. "No!" Sasha cried out as she realised instantly what James was thinking. "Your with him! You brought him here to kill me!" he exclaimed, still growing angrier and angrier.

Suddenly, his robotic arm lashed out and with his skill within the force, coupled with his anger, began using the power of the force to choke Sasha without physically touching her. Instantly her hands went to her troat as she tried in vain to fight it. As she slowly rose off the ground, she gently cried out his name as she fought for air and shook her head sadly, "James. No. Please..." she pleaded, right before Dan's voice called out to him, "Let her go James!" he called forcefully.

James didn't seem to respond to it. When Dan began to advance, and James didn't respond, he said it again, but with more power and a greater sense of foreboading, "Let. Her. Go." James held it for a few more moments until her eyes rolled into her head as he dropped her.

With a small gasp she dropped to the floor unconcious. Slowly, James turned to face his old friend as pain and anger washed over his face, anger eventually over coming all other emotions, "You turned her against me!" He cried out in pain, slowly begining to circle Dan, who did the same. "You have done that yourself." Slowly, the two former friends removed their cloaks and allowed them to drop to the floor, revealing Dan's lightsaber hilt and James' single hilt instead of his two.

In a blind bout of anger, James roared, "You will not take her from me!" Slowly, as Dan came to a stop over Sasha, he called out, "Your anger and lust for power have already done that. You have allowed this Dark Lord to twist your mind. Until now, until now you become the very thing you swore to destroy." With venom laced throughout his words, James spat back an icy reply as he came to a stop himself, faceing away from Dan. "Don't lecture me Dan. I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the dark side as you do. I have brought peace, freedom, justice and security to my new empire!" During James' small monologue, Dan had bent down to check Sasha's pulse and stood back up when he found her alive.

"Your new empire?" With his eyes away from Dan, they slowly flashed a sickly yellow as he spoke his next words, "Don't make me _kill_ you." With an audiable sigh, Dan called out, almost exashperated by this whole ordeal, "James, my allegance is to the senate. To democracy!" He cried out in frustration, causing James' gaze to become hard and determined, "If your not with me, then your my enemy."

Slowly, as Dan removed his hilt from his belt, he said sadly, "Only a _Sith _deals in absolutes. I will do what I must." He announced boldly as his silver blade sprang to life at his side. With a small, evil chuckle, James replied confidantly, "You will _try_." And in one swift movement and a small cry, James leapt backwards, spinning a small half turn and pulled his blade free of his belt.

With a small snap hiss, the blade came to life just before it came crashing down on Dan's defenses, pushing him back towards the edge of the room within the first three strikes, Dan constantly parrying or trying to change the momentum before a small kick to the chest pushed him back, only for them to begin moving towards the rows of tightly packed terminals as James took the offensive again. Slowly, but with fast strikes and parries, Dan was pushed back down the corridor of terminals, still parrying, trying to wear out James' quick but strong strikes. A grim look of determination was on each of the two Jedi's faces as they fought for what would ultimatly be the fate of the Galaxy.

If James won, then he would go on to aid Malak against Revan and Bastila.

If Dan won, he'd take James to the Jedi to attempt to save him. If he was beyond saving, he would kill him.

The attacks began getting wider, sending both lightsabers along the terminals on either side of the pair of warriors, causing dangerous, yet beautiful sparks to fly all around them. With another two parries, James and Dan found themselves in a small section of the command room with three holo-projectors and more terminals around the edge, accompanied by a long table in the middle.

Moving into the middle of the area, where even more Sith lay dead at their feet, the two began their duel again, spinning their blades around their bodies and gripping each other. As Dan twisted James to a doubled over position and brought his saber down on his back, James' robotic arm came up from underneath him and used the purple blade to intercept the attack, forcing them to break apart.

With a small punch from James to Dan's jaw, the two broke apart until James began the intricate dance of death once more. From the center of the room, the two Jedi stood there, neither giving any ground as the two traded blows until as one, they both spun their blades around their bodies inticatly before coming to a crash between the two force-users. James held his blade in his robotic, right hand, whereas Dan held his within both of his hands. In unison once more the two Jedi gave a small grunt as both extended open palms towards each other, both expecting the other to go flying in the opposite direction. What happened was an uncommon occurance.

The two were in a force lock.

If held for too long, it would have disastorus repourcousions that would spell a loud and explosive end to a good half of the station. With a small cry, the lock was broken as both Jedi were sent to opposite ends of the room, both landing painfully on the controls.

James was the first to recover as he leapt atop a hologram table and in another small leap brought his blade down on Dan, only to have his target roll to the side and his lightsaber to come crashing down on the turbolaser controls for the station, causeing klaxtons to blare from the small terminal.

Soon enough then found themselves atop the long table trading more blows to each other until James punched Dan in the face, quickly followed by his robotic hand grasping his friends throat, choking him as his other hand guided the silve blade towards his friends face. Only due to a kick from Dan's free legs was a small respite given to him as James tumbled over him, disarming his opponant in the process.

As James charged towards Dan, he jumped into the air and leveled himself out, delivering a two footed kick to Dan's chest, sending him tumbling backwards. As James got up and charged again, Dan was the one to floor the opponant this time around and brought his own foot up in an almost closeline kind of move, causing James to flip around his leg and land on his back with Dan stood over him. As one, the two Jedi called their lightsabers to them, Dan came down in an overhead slash, and James calmly brought his own up to defend.

With a small push from the force, Dan was sent stumbling backwards, giving James the time he needed to stand and leap up and into the catwalks and balconies that sprawled to cieling of the command center, Dan quickly following suit. Upon landing, the two continued their fight along the higher levels, Dan eventually jumping off their current position and onto a pipe that would lead to another, smaller cat walk. As James followed, the two fought for balance before they even thought about trading blows.

Slowly, they carried their duel of fate on as they inched ever closer to the balcony, eventually causing Dan to do a graceful backfip onto it. As James landed, a loud explosion rocked the support beams, causing metal and debris to shower down on them. As the two Jedi ran to cover, they found it behind some block supports holding the cat walk up. As Dan ducked into position, James traded only a single strike with Dan as he ran to his own cover next to him. As debris and the like began buckling the catwalk, Dan bolted out of cover, James close behind him as the catwalk slowly became vertical.

From their vertical climb, the two Jedi traded blow after blow to each other, until Dan finally spotted a way to potentially end this. As he leapt to the swinging wire, James leapt to another, and on Dan's return from his arc, they traded a single blow. As Dan suspected, he saw hover droids attempting to repair the damage.

They were just large enough for a person to land on, and right next to them was a small barge slaved to their system. Using the force to propell his movements, Dan leapt confidantly towards the small barge, barely large enough for a person to stan on, let alone two. As he looked on, he panted for breath as he watched James land back on the falling cat walk and give a much more powerful leap than his own, only to land next to Dan. Instantly, the two Jedi were at it once more, both tiring and covered in layers upon layers of grime and sweat.

As the two traded blows, James on his droid and Dan on his barge, Dan leapt into the air a small amout to avoid a swipe at his feet, only to recive a swing at his side as a follow up. Throughout the entire ordeal, Dan had mainly been on the defence, never really being able to get an attack of his own in much. Slowly the two broke apart due to their transportation moving away, but together.

It was then, during the small respite that Dan spoke up, "I have failed you as a friend James. I truly have failed you." His friends anger and hate were spewing from him in waves as the two circled each other. "I should have known the Jedi would never accept me for who I am!" He cried out his pain, "James, Malak and the Sith are evil!" Dan tried to reason.

What broke Dan's heart was the reply he got in return, "From my point of view, the _Jedi_ are evil!" In a final cry of pain, Dan yelled back, "Well then you are _lost_!" The two moved throughout the rafters, dodging other droids and even splitting up to manouver around a pair of Sith engineers attempting to repair some damage.

As the two began to draw closer to each other for what would be the final time in this duel, James spoke in a low, dangerous voice as he readied his lightsaber, "This is the end for you my _friend_." And with a small grunt, the two Jedi went at it again, only this time it was differant.

With a small grunt, James had leapt from his position atop the droid and landed behind Dan. A small battle for balance was fought before they fought each other once more. The two traded blow after blow against one another before a small saber lock was entered, giving Dan the victory as he disengaged and did a small backflip as he did so.

He landed smoothly, despite how weak he felt after the whole ordeal, and spread his arms wide, "It's over James! I have the high ground!" From James' position on the barge, Dan could see the anger once more brewing within his friend, "You underestimate my _power_!" He bellowed back, to which Dan only raised his saber, knowing _exactly_ how to finish the fight. "Don't try it." He warned, just as James gave a loud roar and leapt towards the cat walk.

In one, single slash, Dan brought his saber down and heard the sound of it passing through something.

A loud crash echoed from the railing as his opponant attempted to hold on with his one remaining hand, his _real_ hand as he called out in agony.

Jedi don't worry about amputation, as a prosthetic is always available, but from accounts of lightsaber amputation victims, Jedi or not, losing the prosthetic is always just as painful as losing the arm, despite there being no physical damage to the victim. The pain is all a mental issue.

As James hung there, calling out in pain, tears falling down his cheeks, his prosthetic arm came to a halt by Dan's feet, still gripping the famed lightsaber of James Marek. Slowly, Dan pried the fingers away from the lightsaber and attached it to his belt, along with his own. Slowly, he approached the swinging James as he writhed in pain, but refusing to let go. If James fell from here now, he wouldn't be able to cusion himself with the force. Slowly shaking his head in regret, Dan brought his fist up and said one sentance before delivering a punch to James' face, "I'm so sorry, my old friend." he said solomley just before James began his free-fall down to the deck, a good 150ft or so.

He watched his friend limply bounce off support beams and cat walk railings until he finally came to an abrupt halt by slamming into the main hologram projector in the middle of the room. With a small sigh, and a single tear falling down his face, Jedi Master Daniel Newberry jumped down after his fallen friend and companion.

* * *

**AN:** So, as promised, a completly epic end to the duo... Or is it? ;) You'll have to wait until next time for the results. Did James survive the fall? What do YOU guys think? Leave your thoughts in your reviews, of which I'm hardly getting _any at all_, which is upsetting. I honestly thought more people would leave a comment on it, and perhaps any improvements that I could make :l... Anywho, you will probably notice the heavy Revenge of the Sith referances, but there's a reason behind that. In the bonus DVD, George Lucas said he wanted Anakin and Obi-Wan to be on a pretty much even level of skill. That's what I was aiming for here. James may be the more combat proficiant, but at the moment, he's blinded by anger and the darkside, making him an easier opponant. Add to that the fact he only has ONE of his blades. Dan is the more force adept, despite them both being equally as powerful, he jusy tends to use the force MORE.

Anywho, hope you enjoyed it, and I hope it made up for the poor excuse of the last chapter... There's just SO little you can do with the kind of space battle I was going for... :l

**Rate and Review! :D**


	20. Chapter 19

Dan and the rest of the crew of the _Ebon Hawk_ were all gathered outside the medical room in the temporary base the Republic had set up on Lehon.

The whitewashed walls reflecting all light being emited into the room, causeing the assembled Jedi and friends to either squint or shield their delicate eyes. As Dan slowly stroaked the stubble that was slowly growing on his face, he turned to see Shaleena pacing slowly at the opposite end of the room.

Slowly, a small frown gracing her delicate features, she asked, "Why did you do it Dan?" She asked, finally coming to a stop, her shoulders slumpingas she stared out of the window. With a small sigh, he pushed himself up from his position on the floor next to the wall and walked up slowly behind her, gently rubbing her shoulders, "There was no other way. I wish it could've been differant." he sighed, continuing to rub her shoulders before she agressivly pulled away, spinning on Dan with an accusing, gloved finger pointing at him.

He'd expected this sometime or another, so he merely crossed his arms and waited for it all to blow over, "He was your best freind! Did you even _try_ to redeem him?" she asked increduously, throwing her arms into the air as she did so.

Dan was still standing his ground, feet a shoulders width apart whilst the rest of the uninjured crew gathered around. "I tried. He was too far gone to listen to reason. Listen, Darth Novas is dead. I made sure of it." Slowly, tears made their way slowly down each crew members faces as an unspoken ceremony was held for the once great Jedi Master, James Marek.

Slowly, Dan held his arms out, inviting Shaleena into a warm and comfortable embrace. "I'm going to miss him Dan. He-he's the reason I'm where I am today..." She paused long enough to look him in the eye, "The reason I found you." She announced boldly, her Talrisian accent slipping through more and more as her walls were shattered by the latest events. Later on, a funeral pyre built on a size never before seen would house the bodies of fallen Jedi on the Star Forge, giving them a final farewell.

As the group slowly migrated over to the larger window, overlooking the ocean view, all the couples created slowly joined together unconciously. There was an empty feeling however, becuase one couple were missing... With a sad sigh from his left, Dan slowly turned his head to look at Revan thoughtfully, "So, what are you going to tell the Republic?" upon Revan's subtle nod to the doorway behind him, he said, "The same as what _he's_ going to do." With a slow turn, the whole group slowly turned either their bodies or their heads to gaze upon the beaten man stood in the doorway.

The man was tall, well over the 6ft mark, with long shoulder length hair that was sloppily pulled into a center parting, allowing his dark brown eyes to shine through. Behind him, was a more _alive_ looking woman, with soft porceline features and soft, billows brunette locks framing her elegant features.

Slowly, the man stumbled forwards, eventually dropping to his knees after a few shakey steps. With his head hung low, the man opened his arms wide, tears streaming down his face as he announced, "I'm back." As one, the group rushed to help him, only Dan staying behind, his hand unconciously moving towards the two lightsabers on his belt.

As Dan slowly looked down at the lightsaber on his belt that he didn't create, he heard a voice slowly speak up, "You did what your mandate was. I'm proud of you Dan, I don't think I could've brought myself to do what you did, had our roles been switched. Beides, that was a _hell_ of a punch." He announced boldly, slolwy rubbing his jaw where he'd been struck. Dan found a small grin stretching across his features as he unconciously rubbed his two broken knuckles, allowing a small amount of Force energies to flow into them, numbing the throbbing pain slightly. Dan stood there, unmoving for a few moments as Revan's still hooded form bent down to help the man up from his knees. Slowly, the two men made their way towards each other and, in unison jumped at each other and enveloped the other in a hug so powerful, both men whimpred slightly. The fires of friendship were once again relit.

Slowly, the two men parted, but held each other at an arms length as they went and sat down on the closest chairs, the rest of the crew pulling up or scraping whatever they could. "So, what made you fall?" Jolee asked, getting straight to the point, but at the same time, killing any good mood there was in the room. Slowly, with his prosthetic right arm, James leant back and slowly stroked his goatee that had formed during his recovery.

James' features were dark now. His eyes seemed to darken, the lights seemed to get dimmer, even the weather seemed to pick up on his mood as a clap of thunder was heard off in the distance as it followed a flash of lightning. "I-I was tortured, far more vigourosly than Bastila. It wasn't a physical thing, per se. It was more physcological than that. Every hour of every day," Slowly he stopped and looked at Sasha as his eyes became heavy and sad, almost as if he were reliving it, "I was tortured by your death." As one, the entire audience gasped heavily as they looked struck.

Slowly, everyone nodded in understanding as they motioned for James to continue, "He christened me with the name, _Darth Novas_, as you all know of course. I was generally stationed on the Star Forge, but I was sent on the odd mission. The main thing I did, and that I regret the most, is leading the attack on the Jedi enclave on Ithor." Slowly, he leant forward, his leather gauntlet and real hand covering his face as he shook with uncontrollable tears. Slowly, Sasha leant forward and placed a loving kiss on his forehead as he cried into her shoulder.

Between the sobs, he managed, "I, killed, younglings." he cried once more, never once stopping as he eventually cried himself to sleep, too exhausted to even open his eyes from the tear soaked shoulder he lay sleeping on.

Slowly, Revan and Carth moved James back into his room, gently placing him inside the sheets, his hand never leaving Sasha's. Slowly, as the two returned to the group, all eyes turned towards them. Carth, taking the initiative to attempt to change the subject, clapping his calloused hands together and asked, "So, when's the ceremony?" The rest of the group spotted what it was he was attempting to do, and responded in kind, "Two, maybe three days. I can't wait." Mission squealed from her seat on Zaalbars lap.

Everyone chuckled a little at Mission's pure innocence before two of the Jedi moved outside and into the rain. "What so you think the council will demand?" Dan asked solomly, the mud squelching beneth his boots as his hair stuck to his head. Revan slowly looked at him, a flash of lightning showing a raised eyebrow. When Dan chuckled, he replied, "It's refreshing. So, any idea's?" He smiled as the two came to a slow but gradual halt before the cliff face, "I don't know. They wont exile him like they did Dacen. There are far too few of us right now. They'll keep him with you I think." Slowly, Dan turned around to him, pulling his hood up as he did, "What about you?" When Revan didn't respond, he merely nodded and turned to look out over the ocean as the rain slowly began to clear.

Three hours later, neither Jedi had moved a muscle, but the weather had eventually cleared right up. Slowly, Dan turned to look his old friend in the eye, "Well, where your going, your gonna need it. May the Force be with you Revan. But at least stay a while. You just got Bastila back." Dan announced slowly, trying to make his friend see reason. When he recieved a firm nod, the two Jedi smiled at each other and began their small treck back to the base.

* * *

**AN:** Shorter than I'd planned, but hopefully it was up to the standard you expect of me :)

I hope this answered one or two questions... ;)

**RnR**


	21. Chapter 20

Over the roaring sounds of the crowds, as they all stood there, with the exception of James, the sounds of a small orchestra playing just behind them could be heard as they stood there, waving to the republic troops that helped defeat the threat of the Sith. Slowly, they turned around to face Admiral Dodonna who stood before Master Vandar, who in turn stood before a group of the highest and most skilled of the Jedi knights that the order had left.

Standing between the four of them in a pair of binders, was James. The High Council on Coruscant had determined that he was to be stripped of his connection to the Force and sentanced into Exile for the rest of his life. His sentance would begin as soon as the ceremony was over.

Standing straighter than she already was, Admiral Forn Dodonna began addressing the hero's of the Republic on a broadcast that went out across all the Galaxy, "You have defeated Malak, destroyed the Star Forge, and broken the spirit of the Sith. For this I am proud to present you each with the Cross of Glory. This is the highest honour the Republic can bestow." She paused a minute to allow that to sink into the entire population of the Republic watching this, slowly, she continued on, "From Coruscant, to the far reaches of the outer rim, you will be known as the saviours of the Republic!" She called out, earing cheers to shake the foundations of the Galaxy itself.

Slowly, each of the group looked at Revan and spotted a small smirk cross his face under his hood. With a warm smile, Dan and the rest of the assembled Jedi, James included kneeled before Grandmaster Vandar Tokare.

Slowly, as he held his walking stick between his small, clawed hands, he looked up and spoke, "On behalf of the Jedi Council on Coruscant, defenders of the Galaxy and sworn protectors of the Republic, I too would like to honour you for your actions." Slowly, he paused and watched as Revan looked first at Bastila, who smiled warmly at him, to which he replied with a flirtacious wink, and then moved his gaze along the line of his friends, to finally rest on Dan and Sasha, who both were looking more depressed by the minute. Slowly, he turned his attention back to Vandar who began talking again, "We Jedi, now have another tale to weave into our grand history of our eternal order." Slowly, he lifted an open hand towards Revan, "The redemption of Revan, the prodigal Knight. Where ever you go, you will be recognised as the saviours of the Galaxy. The hero's of our age. But you must remain, ever vigilant, for one day, you may be called on yet again, to defend the glory of the Republic, against the tyranny of the Darkside. This, is the destiny, of the Jedi." As if almost timed, Starfighters flew overhead, a mixture of both Jedi and standard fighters as they let off fireworks, high up in the atmosphere.

As the audience at the temple slowly died down, Vandar had yet to move from his spot. Instead of turning on his heal and walk back over to the side, he instead cleared his voice for another small speach, "James Marek, step foreward." He commanded.

Slowly, James stepped foreward, escorted by his Jedi security detail as he knelt before Master Vandar, all the floating camera's of the ceremony, focusing on the two of them. "James Marek, you were the apprentice of the Dark Lord for a time, even leading the attack on our Enclave on Ithor." As Vandar spoke this, a few tears dropped from James' tightly clenched eyes and onto the cracked grey slabs that made up the ramp to the temple. "For this, many of the Council believe you should be either stripped of your power and sentanced to Exile, or publicly executed. Yet, within you, no dark emotions do I feel. Only, pure and light ones. Powerful in the Force you are, and a great loss to the Jedi, it would be if either of those things were to occur to you. Allowed back within our ranks, you will be. Your rank will be restored as well." Vandar promised as he sweapt his hand through the air before him, causing James' binders to drop to the floor as he slowly stood, a warm smile on his face.

"Thank you Master Vandar. I wont let you down." James vowed as he walked over to join his friends, having his last remaining lightsaber tossed to him by Dan, an equally large grin on his features before Admiral Dodonna stepped foreward and placed a Cross of Glory on his Jedi robes as well, "Admiral, what are you doing? I don't deserve this." He asked, completly dumbfounded, the Admiral merely smiled devishly before whispering, "Jedi Master Newberry told me your reasons for joining Malak. You deserve this just as much as they. Besides, I think it's about time Jedi were allowed to love." She winked, just before walking away. Slowly, a smile set on James' features as he was joined by all of his companions, by either them hugging him, or patting him warmly on the shoulder.

* * *

The celebrations of the ceremony were in full swing. It had been a good few hours since the speaches and the live broadcasts to the Galaxy, and James truly felt like he was being accepted once more.

During most of the celebrations, he had stayed with either Revan, Dan or Sasha, just talking amiably and enjoying life. However, he was now left to his own devices as he sat at a corner table as the sun began to set, and fires were set by Republic troops.

Slowly, a trio of veteran looking soldiers began walking towards his table, all fully armed with blasters on their hips and a full uniform of armour. All looked solid, as if they had literally been carved out of stone. The three eventually made it to his table and stood before him, trying to look menecing as the middle one spoke up, "So your the infamous _Darth Novas_?" He asked, tauntingly.

With a dismissive wave, James replied, "Please, _please_ don't call me that." He asked in a neutral voice. The three soldiers laughed whole heartedly, causing a few party goers to turn and look in their direction, eventually causing the whole party to look at the four.

"Look at this boys! The _Sith_ is being polite!" He bellowed with laughter. Slowly, James stood up and began walking away, only to have his prostetic arm grabbed by the smallest of the three, stopping him in his tracks as he still didn't turn around, "_Please_ let me go. I don't want fight you." He said slowly and deliberatly before continuing, "But I _will_ defend myself." He promised.

The trooper that was originally on the left of the leader laughed before becoming serious and taking a swing at James' face, to which he ducked under and catched the second fist of the man holding him. "I told you I'd defend myself." He growled out, pushing his captor away. When the leader spotted the direction of the scuffle, he pulled out his blaster, quickly followed by his two companions, "Defend this, Sith scum." He bellowed out, right before he let off two shots that were redirected into the sky to dissipate.

James stood there, his purple lightsaber activated and held in his signature reverse grip before he slashed three times, cauing the ends of their guns to drop to the floor as one. The sound of his retracting blade signified the end of the fight, or so he thought.

A small yell let him know that he was being attacked again, probably by the leader. To his none existant surprise in this fight, he watched as the leader charged him with his knife. James merely raised his prosthetic arm and gave a small push through the Force that sent the man into the nearest wall, unconcious before he hit the floor.

Troops posted as casual security rushed to seize the man before he gained conciousness, along with his two companions as they were rushed from the party, leaving it to carry on.

What James recieved for the rest of the night before retiring to the _Ebon Hawk_ were fearful glances and wide berths. Some Jedi, though not all, gave him looks of pride from what he had just done.

* * *

**AN:** So, another short chapter, but admittedly, all I wanted to cover in this chapter has been covered. I just wanted to cover the ceremony and James' reinduction into the Jedi Order as a Master once more. I believe that HAD James been in the game, and HE had been the one taken by Malak, and was redeemed, I think Master Vandar would at LEAST try to reinstate him as a Master, because there were less than 100 Jedi left after the end of the war, or so it says... somewhere o.O...

Yes, I know it was short, but only one more chapter until my only completed stop is finished! WooHoo! And I've got a surprise for you... :D... There WILL be a book two, called, _Book Two: An Exile's path_. Following that, will be _Book Three: The road to war_, and finally, the end of the series shall be placed after the movies and I've yet to decide which story arc to do. There'll either be, _Book Four: A Galaxy at peace_ or _Book Four: Return of the lost families_

**RnR!**


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